Abate2
by Hunter Predator
Summary: Six months after Abate. The war between Earth and their allies against a union of aliens and monsters known together as Abaters continues. New faces and old foes appear, and humanity's hopes rest upon the Spartans and Evas.
1. Daily Routine

**Abate2**

**Chapter 1**

_Abandoned United Nations Space Station _

"Bomb found, area secure, civilians evacuated." A young man reported into a COM channel link. The man, encased in the latest MJOLNIR armor, was in fact the Master Chief, codenamed Spartan-015. Moving in his bulky green armor as it was nothing and he looked at the 'gift' the Abaters gave the space station, a large spiked bomb in the shape of sphere, with a glowing red knob as its activation button. The Spartan approached the bomb and touched the knob, the red glow turned into a gentle green hue, signifying it was deactivated. "Bomb deactivated."

_"Good work Master Chief, now, give it back to them." _A voice with a German accent said over the COM channel. It was the only survivor of the species known as Kaleesh, General Grievous, who wasn't in fact a Kaleesh either, but instead, a cyborg. Six months prior to this, the Master Chief was just awakening from suspended animation for thirteen years, learning the ropes to the military, meeting others like him, namely Spartan-023, Michel Kreigler, and the Evas, Eva-00, simply known as Ray, Eva-01, Shinji Ikari, and Eva-02, Alexis Langley Soryu. He learned that his family was killed in an Abater attack, and the princess of England, Susan, who he had come to love, was killed by the Abater forces.

Without replying to the general's words, the Master Chief wrapped his hands around two spikes on the bomb, and dragged it to the ejection bay. Sparks flew from the spikes scraping along the metal floor and ear-splitting screeching echoed throughout the deserted hallways. It had been six months since the Master Chief saw any of his old friends, he had been Grievous's personal body guard since Susan had died, and even Grievous had noticed how cold the Spartan had become, perhaps even rivaling the cyborg in the inability to feel. Doors slid open and the Master Chief let go of the bomb, turning to face the iron doors, with glass windows, allowing him to see the madness above Earth. Dark Abater cruisers clashed with Covenant and human fighters, Longswords, Phantoms, and Seraphs all darted between Abater fighters and cruisers, fire and explosions were also appearing all over the darkness of space.

Turning around and standing behind the only support beam in the room, the Master Chief punched a button on the beam, which caused a handle to shoot out. Grabbing the handle, the Master Chief thought of how his plan was going to work, and yanked down. The iron doors opened slowly with a deafening creaking sound and the vacuum of space began to pull on everything in the room. As shards of metal were hurled into space, slowly, the bomb began to scrape along the floor, until it was flung fully towards the open hatch. The Spartan shot an open hand out, grabbing one of the spikes, and hitching a ride out into space. Thankfully in the MJOLNIR armor there were backup air supply cases, able to supply the Master Chief with oxygen for almost an hour.

Slowly floating down towards an Abater cruiser, the Master Chief was aided by three Longswords that swooped down and dropped their bombs on the behemoth vessel, making a massive hole through the ship, allowing for a perfect place to drop the bomb. Once he floated to the center of the gap, the Master Chief slowly used the spikes on the bomb as a way to pull himself back to the activation knob. Working quickly, the Spartan touched the knob lightly, the green glow turned red once more, and he knew it was time to get out of there. Knowing what to do, the Master Chief planted his feet onto the bomb and pushed off, hurling himself down toward Earth. He looked back to see the ship, which was almost two miles long; as it lit up in an eruption of blue fire, destroying it.

The force of the explosion was enough to send the Master Chief hurling even faster down towards his target, General Grievous's ship.

* * *

On the command deck of Grievous's ship, the cyborg general stood on a platform above his employees, a series of droids, Elites, and humans working on computers and monitors and busy scanning every movement of every ship in the battle. 

"General, Officer Jenkins of the Committee is here to speak with you." One of Grievous's assistants reported.

"Damn it." Grievous muttered. He hated the Committee and the Committee hated him. They never trusted him, being a cyborg, and ever since day one they had been trying to shut him and his men down. "Very well, bring him in." He said.

"_Her_ sir." The assistant replied as she took her seat at her post again. The doors entering the command deck opened and a young woman, no older than eighteen no doubt, walked in. Having dark hair reaching down far past her shoulders, green eyes, fair skin, and a fine Officer's uniform on, Abigail Jenkins only she hardly resembled someone who belonged in the army. She was barely built, very skinny, but she did manage to catch the eye of several men she passed.

"Ah, Officer Jenkins, it is a pleasure to have you here." Grievous forced out, fighting back to urge to snap. "So uh…h-how long is your visit again?" He asked, concealing himself in his cloak, except for his skull-like helmet and frightening eyes.

"Just a few days General." Abigail replied as she pulled up a clipboard and began to write down the basics to her report, name of the ship commander, her name, name of the ship, and so on. "So…where is this Spartan you have assigned as your personal body guard?" She asked, getting serious quickly. Suddenly they heard a loud thump of metal above them, as if something heavy struck the ship.

"_That_ would be him." Grievous said with a chuckle. He looked to his assistant, named Nikki Adams, and said. "Ms. Adams, get the Master Chief inside as quickly as possible." Nikki stood up.

"Yes sir." She said and hurried to the ejection bay. Abigail stared at Nikki as she ran down the hall to the ejection bay, confused.

"Might I ask just how the Spartan got up there? In space." She asked as she put the clipboard up. "The Committee would be very interested to hear this." Her pen was on the paper, ready to write.

"The Committee hmm…?" Grievous asked. He approached Abigail and said. "Let me see, the ship _Grand Victory _had an Abater bomb placed in it, I assigned the Master Chief to take care of it." He said. Abigail quickly jotted down what he said, then looked back up at him.

"So…you made him hurl himself into space to get rid of it?" She was just about to check the box for _'Unable to ensure soldiers' safety'_, when Grievous went on.

"Not only that, but I had him _return_ the bomb back to the enemy." He said. Abigail paused, then looked back up in wonder.

"How?" She asked.

"With the help of some of the Longswords under my command as well, we were able to penetrate an Abater cruiser, getting the bomb into it, reactivating it, and escaping." The cyborg said.

"So he hurled himself towards us…and managed to actually hit us?" Abigail asked, now almost fascinated.

"Yes, the Master Chief has a great sense of timing and accuracy, that's why he hit us when he did." Grievous replied with a grin under his helmet.

"But couldn't one of your Longswords have picked him up, without him risking his life just to get to us?" Ms. Jenkins asked, now making Grievous seem like a bad guy.

"That bomb had only a few seconds left in it, if we did do that, we would've lost over five men instead of none." Grievous remarked. Without another word, Abigail jotted down his words again. The doors slid open and Nikki appeared once more, this time with the Master Chief behind her. _"That was quick."_ The cyborg thought before forgetting it. "Master Chief." He said proudly. "You've outdone yourself this time." He chuckled. The Spartan nodded his thanks. "Chief, this is Officer Jenkins, she is from the Committee." Grievous said.

"It's a pleasure to meet one of you." Abigail said, obviously intimidated by the Spartan, and held her hand out. The Master Chief hesitated for a moment, but then he grasped her small hand in his, and shook it. A bit too hard of a handshake for her, Abigail looked at her hand to see if it was hurt at all.

"I'm sorry." The Master Chief replied. Abigail looked up, quite surprised by the comment, then shook her head.

"No, no, that's fine." She smiled and turned to Grievous, she tried to look serious, but it was quite apparent that despite her training, or if she even had any for that matter, it was difficult for her to give someone a cruel look. "General, he should be on Earth, fighting with the others on land." She said. "He isn't meant for space battles."

"Are you kidding? The Chief is perfect for space." Grievous said. "Chief, how long was that cruiser you blew up?" He asked. The Master Chief thought for a moment.

"Two-miler sir." He replied.

"You see?" Grievous asked Abigail, who was quite impressed and surprised.

"Very well, if you don't mind, I'd like to share what I have learned already with Mr. Kingsley." She said.

"Of course, Chief, please show the Officer to her room, you know where it is correct?" Grievous asked. The Master Chief nodded. The doors slid open once more and the Master Chief and Officer walked side-by-side down the hallway. Grievous turned around and slammed his fist on his command desk. "The Committee is really going to go after us this time." He growled. A man in his thirties with finely combed hair monitoring one of the computer screens looked up and over his shoulder to the cyborg.

"Sir, I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'They're breaking my balls'." He said, repeating what his son back on Earth told him, as well as implying that Grievous no longer had his testicles. The man managed to make a few around him snicker.

"Oh shut up." Grievous grumbled.

"Are you sure? It went well I thought." Nikki replied, completely ignoring the humorous remark. Nikki was in her mid-twenties, with short brown hair that curled forward at the end, and one of the few Grievous trusted, only the Master Chief shared this with the cyborg.

"She'll add something like mistakes in my plans and such; there are never _any_ mistakes in my plans!" Grievous boomed. Nikki sighed as she went back to work.

"Yes, yes, I know sir."

* * *

There was mostly awkward silences as the Master Chief escorted Abigail to her cabin, the Spartan didn't seem to mind it, but it bugged the Officer. 

"Can I ask you why you work under Grievous's command?" She asked. "My father and the other Committee members say things about Grievous and his tactics that are anything but good." The Master Chief thought for a moment, and at first Abigail didn't think he was going to reply.

"He's a good leader, I trust him, he trusts me." He replied. Abigail nodded. Another long silence came over them. "You seem young for an Officer." He said, with little confidence in his voice. Abigail snickered, just loud enough for the Spartan to hear.

"And you seem young for the rank of Master Chief, don't you? You're eighteen right?" She asked. The Master Chief looked at her with his blank visor, expecting a smug look from her, but instead, she gave a kind smile. He nodded.

"How do you know that?" He asked. Abigail's cheeks turned as pink.

"I've done some research on you." She said softly. "A few months ago, before I joined the army, my father sent me a report about the Fair Oaks Base Abater attack, I guess once I read about that, about you and the Senior Chief, the Evas, and whatnot, I…I guess you could say I became a fan." The Master Chief looked forward again, not replying. Abigail smiled again. "I like your name…Sven." Under his helmet, the Master Chief's eyes widened, and he looked at her.

"How do you know my name?" He asked. The Officer smiled and her cheeks blushed even pinker.

"When I joined the Committee as an Officer, I had access to any soldier I wanted to learn about. Guess who I decided to learn about?" Her face began to turn from pink to red and she looked away from embarrassment. "Nonetheless, they erased everything about you except your name, birthday, where you used to live, and your rank." She looked back at the Master Chief. "Was Fair Oaks nice?" She asked. The Master Chief did not reply. "I've heard your life has been quite a tragic story." The dark-haired girl said. Again, the Master Chief merely nodded. "I'm sorry." She replied softly. The Master Chief stopped, which made Abigail stop, and he pointed to the door on his right.

"There's your room, rest well." He said before turning around and heading back to the command deck.

"Chief," Abigail called out. The Master Chief looked over his shoulder at her as she smiled. "Thanks." The Spartan merely nodded once more before walking again. The Officer opened her door and walked in, finding that her suitcases were already there, just waiting for her to unpack them.

The command deck doors slid open and the Master Chief walked in, stopping just beside Grievous, then he stared out at the continuing battle going on. Neither Grievous nor the Spartan said anything, a typical way for them. Suddenly Nikki looked over her shoulder.

"General, there's an incoming message." She reported.

"Put it on the main screen." Grievous ordered. The main monitor, the largest one that hung before the cyborg and Spartan, lit up and a familiar, aged figure appeared, with a humble, kind smile. "Ah, Dr. Winchester, long time no see." Grievous said and bowed, the Master Chief followed his actions.

"General Grievous, I see the Master Chief is doing well?" The scientist said. The Master Chief nodded, somewhat pleased to see Winchester in such a long time.

"Yes sir." Both of the beings said together.

"Well that's good." He said joyfully. "So I've heard from the Committee that they have an Officer there, is everything going alright? I know how the Committee despises you General and I…"

"Doctor, Doctor, please, we have everything under control, the battle is dying down, we've destroyed the largest enemy ship in the battle, and the Officer is in her room as we speak." Grievous said reassuringly. Dr. Winchester nodded.

"Well, I just wanted to check up on you General, it was nice seeing you again Master Chief, hope to see you down here on Earth sometime soon, signing out." And with that, his image flicked off of the screen. The Master Chief looked to Grievous when the cyborg placed a robotic hand on his shoulder.

"Chief, go relax now, get something to eat, rest, whatever you want to do." The cyborg said kindly. "However, don't hesitate to keep an eye on that Officer Jenkins for me would you? Make sure she doesn't go snooping into places she shouldn't be in." The Master Chief nodded.

"I understand."

**So do you like it? I couldn't help but copy off the scene from Halo 2 where the MC returns the Covenant bomb, it's just an amazing scene! Well this is the first chapter of Abate2, and it will be a long time until this one's over. Hope you like it so far and don't forget to review.**


	2. In the President's Gallery

Chapter 2

_Moskow-02, Russia _

"I thought I told you to wear something nice." Rykov muttered as he and Michel Kreigler, aka Senior Chief stood side-by-side inside the State Tretyakov Gallery, home for some of Russia's finest art. Tonight however, it was being used as a ballroom. Some of the richest people of Russia were present as they clapped for the two heroes of their country. Rykov had become famous with his people for being a great thinker and leader, Michel however, was enjoying his first celebration from the people he was helping to protect. The young man was wearing his regular nice white shirt and black pants, with his hands shoved in them. Michel was also an odd sight, having silver hair, ghost-white skin, and ruby red eyes.

"Don't worry General; they'll still like me even if I'm not in fancy clothing." He muttered back. Rykov was in his army uniform, proudly showing his many badges and medals of bravery and his rank. As the president of the Russian government appeared out from his doorway, his wife, son and daughter present with him as well, Rykov muttered back to Michel.

"People need heroes Michel; it gives them hope in times of crisis such as the one we are in now. I'd tell you to smile but…" The general looked at Michel, who exchanged the look back, seeing that he had his usual smile on. "But you're always smiling." He snapped to and looked to the president, Michel doing the same. The president and his family stood on a platform above everyone else, with a staircase leading from the tiled floor up to them. The president, Dimitri Abelev, a man in his late forties with finely combed brown hair, and a finely trimmed brown beard and mustache. Wearing badges from his own days in the military just like Rykov, Dimitri brought his white-gloved hands up and the clapping ceased.

"My friends, let us give thanks to these two men before us today. Vasili Rykov and his service in the military, and this Michel Kreigler, for his amazing campaign against the invading Abater forces, and becoming a household name and hero to all Russians." When Dimitri's words came to a halt, everyone present broke out into clapping. Rykov stood straight and stared forward while taking his honor, while Michel looked around the room, smiling kindly at those clapping for him and waving at an occasional few. Again Dimitri held his hands up to halt the noise, and spoke. "Now, if it wouldn't bother you gentlemen, shall we proceed with the ball?" He asked.

As the classical music began to play, and the rich couples began to dance, Dimitri took Rykov and Michel in to introduce them to his family. Standing side-by-side, each person bowed as their name was said.

"General, Senior Chief, this is my lovely family. My wife, Helga Abelev," Helga was a bit younger than Dimitri, being in her late thirties to early forties, with her golden hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head. She bowed respectful and held her hand out, Rykov took it and kissed it gently before stepping back beside Michel. Dimitri went on. "This is my son, Sacha." Sacha, a young man who was apparently in the in the military, showed his few badges and rank of Corporal proudly. A young man just barely past the age of twenty, he stuck his hand out and Michel shook it, seeing they were both soldiers. "And finally, my lovely daughter, Natasha." Dimitri said proudly.

Nervously putting her hand out in the same fashion her mother did, Natasha's hand was shaking slightly. Her brother had told her about the Spartans before, and she was always afraid of meeting one. Rykov nudged Michel and the boy understood. The young girl, who was about Michel's age, maybe a year younger, slowly felt a little relieved when Michel gently put her hand in his, then bent down and kissed her hand, before releasing it and backing away. Natasha had brownish-blonde hair, reaching down to her shoulders, she was wearing a bright blue dress, and her eyes were gentle brown in color.

"Now then, you two can relax if you'd like." Dimitri said. "Mr. Kreigler." He said, the boy looked over to the president. "Sometime tonight, I'd like for you to dance with my daughter, if that's alright with you."

"Of course Mr. President." Michel replied kindly and bowed his head respectfully.

"Excellent. Rykov, my wife and I would like to speak with you, we're very pleased to have you here you know." Dimitri went on.

"Of course." Rykov said with a bow.

* * *

"Senior Chief, I'm quite interested in hearing about your missions." Sacha said as he and Michel stood side-by-side on the balcony overlooking the ballroom. "I was expecting a Spartan to be…bigger." He said, after seeing Michel's gangly appearance.

"People who expect things are always bound to come up short." Michel replied, using his poetry in his words again. Sacha was a little confused at first, but went on.

"Tell me, what was your greatest battle, I've heard you've been in a lot of great ones, but I…"

" Fair Oaks, Kansas, do you know where that is?" Michel asked. Sacha shook his head. "T'was the hometown of a friend of mine, another Spartan, but it and the base was abandoned after…an invasion from the enemy." He said, having a difficult time thinking back to the pain that battle caused everyone, Susan was killed, everyone went their separate ways, the base was abandoned, and no one has seen each other since.

" Kansas… Kansas…oh yes." Sacha spoke rather softly now. "Was that not the place where her Majesty was assassinated by enemy forces?" He asked. Michel nodded.

"Yes it was." He replied. He couldn't help but think back to that day.

* * *

_His helmet off and laying on the ground beside them, Sven sobbed over Susan, who was still alive, but barely. Michel appeared over them, and snapped his helmet off as well, putting it at his side. Susan looked up, expecting a comforting smile from Michel, but instead, she was given a solemn frown, it was obvious Michel was hurt by this just like Sven was. Smiling weakly, she brought a soft hand up and stroked the Master Chief's cheek, who looked up with watery-eyes. _

_"Don't be sad…" She whispered. Sniffling, Sven looked down in shame, one more tear running down his cheek. _

_"But it was my fault you're hurt." He replied. Susan leaned forward and gently kissed him on the forehead. _

_"It wasn't your…fault…" Her voice slowly became softer and softer, and Sven could suddenly feel that her grip on him was lessening. He looked at her, her eyes slowly closing. _

_"Susan please, don't die." He pleaded. Susan smiled faintly, she was about to say something, but she was too weak, and her eyes closed. "Susan? Susan?" The Master Chief asked. "Susan…?" But still, no answer, she was gone. Suddenly Sven felt alone again, like no one was ever going to be with him again. With one hand, he put his helmet back on and picked the princess up, holding her in both arms, and he approached the incoming Pelican dropship, Michel walking right beside him.

* * *

_

Sitting side-by-side, on the platform, watching the dancers as they moved elegantly with the music that was playing in a classical way, the president, his wife, his daughter, and Rykov spoke. Natasha, being a shy girl, only fiddled with her thumbs as she didn't participate in any of the conversation going on.

"So do you know what happened to the Evas and other Spartan?" Dimitri asked, interested. Rykov crossed his legs and looked forward.

"No, I know nothing about the Evas; they weren't in my field you see, however, the Master Chief is in the hands of a good friend of mine, General Grievous." The general said.

"So…was it the Master Chief that was shunned from the Royal Family or am I just thinking of someone else?" The president asked next.

"No, it was indeed the Master Chief; the Royal Family did despise him after the death of their daughter, Susan, and blamed it on him for not saving her." Rykov replied.

"Poor child, does he have any family?" Helga asked. Rykov shook his head.

"No, they were killed in an Abater attack. Last time I spoke with Grievous, he told me the Master Chief has gone quite quiet now, that he apologizes for several things that aren't his fault, and he never removes his MJOLNIR armor." He went on.

"Just a series of downfalls for him isn't it?" Dimitri asked. "Now that Michel, what's his life story?" The president said with a broad grin as he looked up at the balcony to the Spartan and his son. Rykov looked up to Michel and Sacha as well.

"The Committee has erased everything about Michel, except his date of birth and name, same as the Master Chief. No one, not even himself, knows what his life was like, who his family was, and where he lived before being put into suspended animation." Rykov said. "Or why he had red eyes and white hair. But I will tell you Mr. President." The general smiled and looked at Dimitri. "He is quite a poet." Dimitri, being a fan of poetry and other works of literature, smiled brightly, which turned into a laugh.

"A military-bred killing machine who's a poet? Interesting." He, his wife, and Rykov broke out into laughter, while Natasha looked up at Michel, too shy to speak with him herself, but something about the boy intrigued her.

"Natasha, this is your song. Go to Mr. Kreigler and ask him to dance would you?" The president asked.

"Yes Father." The girl replied softly and stood up, walking around the ballroom and up the flight of stairs. By the time she reached the top, Michel was already on his way to the stairs. She saw him, almost jumped, but retained her calm state. "Hello Mr. Kreigler." She said softly and bowed slightly. Michel stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling contently.

"Hello there Ms. Abelev. Please, call me Michel." The boy said politely. Natasha blushed a bit, never having had being able to call a boy by their first name.

"O-okay Michel. W-would you like to…to dance?" She stammered nervously. Michel smiled brightly.

"Certainly Ms. Abelev, I would love to." He said and walked toward her. Walking down the stairs side-by-side, Michel looked at Natasha, whose face was red and she was looking away. "You seem nervous, why?" The young man asked. Natasha looked back at him, her face still bright red. She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and looked forward.

"I…I don't know." She said softly. As they walked out onto the ballroom floor, Natasha felt increasingly nervous, seeing that her parents and renowned Russian hero Rykov were watching.

"Shall we?" Michel asked as he turned to her. Natasha nodded slightly and put one hand on his shoulder, her other hand in his hand out to her right, with his other hand on her waist. As they began to dance with the classical music playing, Natasha couldn't help but notice something.

"Why…why are your hands soft?" She asked. Michel looked at her, then to their hands, then back into her eyes.

"Hmm, I've never noticed that, are they supposed to be rough?" He asked. The girl shook her head.

"I suppose not, but…after all I've heard…about you, the Evas, and the others, I was…kind of expecting someone…scary." She looked down at their feet, her blush reducing only to her cheeks. Michel's smile widened.

"So, I'm not scary?" He teased. Natasha looked back up at him, then looked away giggling.

"Well, no." She replied.

"Then why are you so nervous?" Michel asked.

"I don't know, I've never had any friends, people don't really talk to me or make me feel like somebody, I'm just the president's daughter." She said softly.

"I'll be your friend." Michel replied. Natasha looked up at him.

"Y-you will?" She asked. Michel merely nodded.

"I love having friends, I don't have many myself, but they keep me happy." He said.

"Who?" Natasha asked.

"Well, there's Sven, Shinji, Ray and 'Zukamee. There's a girl named Alexis who thinks we're friends but I'm not sure." He said.

"Do you ever see them? Being a Spartan and all." Natasha asked. Michel's smile lessened slightly.

"No, I haven't seen them in six months, about when Princess Susan died." He replied. "We haven't seen each other since."

"I'm sorry." The girl said.

"That's okay." Michel said reassuringly.


	3. Tartarus's Duty

**Chapter 3**

_Abater Ship: Undying Pride _

A sinister figure walked down a dimly lit hallway, his figure bulky and massive, red eyes glowing, which could send chills down anyone's spine who were to agitate this beast, a Brute. Not just a Brute, but the chieftain, Tartarus, practically a hero among his people and other members of the Abaters for the assassination of Princess Susan. He stopped at the end of the hall, where two Tyrannosaur-like beings, Abaters, true ones, stood guard, with grey instead of black armor and a helmet over their heads, their spears posed. They grunted to each other and slapped the end of their spears onto the ground, the 'wall' slid open to reveal a large chamber. Tartarus walked in and the doors behind him slid shut.

The room was quite spacious and luxurious, with a huge view of the space battle going on at the moment. An Abater version of a bar and lounge, where a creature known as an Engineer was working. Engineers looked like floating blue blobs with tentacles projecting from their bulbous appearance. They weren't hostile creatures, never known on any account to attack Abater, Covenant, or human forces. Their job was to merely explore the machines of different species and see how they worked, tear them apart, then piece them back together, thus the name Engineers. This one however, must have been hired to tend to its leader's desired drinks.

Two beings were seen facing one another, speaking while standing on a platform overseeing the entire battle, just beyond the bar and at the end of the room. Tartarus made his way toward the two wise beings who held infinite power in the Abater army.

"My Elders." The Brute said in his low voice and kneeled.

"Ah, Chieftain, we've been expecting you. Drink?" One of the wise beings spoke in his aged voice. Tartarus nodded.

"Yes please my Elder." He replied graciously. The being who offered him the drink, a Prophet, were all wise beings, once leaders to the Covenant until they, as well as Jackals, Brutes, and Drones, betrayed the others and joined the Abaters. This one, the Prophet of Truth, wore a massive crown atop of his head, with was supported by a serpentine neck. Wearing a valuable silk red robe and sitting in a hovering 'throne', one could call Truth a king of his people. The other wise being, an aged Abater, also wore a robe; however, his was black, as was one of his peoples' color, the other being red. The Abater, Chancellor Grimm, stood hunched, with his arms folding out forward, his clawed fingers dangling down; he was certainly an aged, but wise, being. The Engineer appeared with a goblet filled with a wine mixed from the berries of the planet Tartarus came from, a drink most Brutes enjoyed.

"When is your next attack going to be?" Grimm asked abruptly. Tartarus stuck one of his large fingers into his drink and stirred it, watching the ruby-red wine swirl.

"Soon enough my Elder." The Brute replied.

"You cannot rely on one victory to assure yourself of fame Chieftain." The Prophet of Truth said. "It has been quite some time since the assassination of the Princess of England and you have yet to go out and give the Abater army another great victory." His eyes narrowed. "We are beginning to lose the hand we had in this war."

"I can assure you my Elders, that I will serve the humans a defeat that will bring honor to you that no other soldier could bring you." Tartarus said proudly.

"Don't get too cocky Tartarus, with more Evas and Spartans awakening every day our war is diminishing." Grimm growled. He pointed a clawed finger out into the battle. "We have lost this battle you see before you, we are ready to call for a retreat, _Forever Victory_ has been destroyed with the very bomb you ordered your men to place in one of their ships!" His voice was growing angrier and his golden eyes narrowed. Tartarus's eyes widened when he took a sip of his wine and he almost spat it out.

"What?" He exclaimed. "How could they do that? That's impossible!"

"Obviously it _is_ possible." Grimm snapped and looked at the Engineer. "Show him the video the _Forever Victory_ took before it was destroyed." The Engineer pressed a button from a complicated set of buttons and knobs beside his workstation. A platform rose up from the floor and a 3D video blinked to life. The footage was mostly static for a time because of the explosion the Longswords did to it, then it became clear as day, and Tartarus felt his heart skip a beat. He recognized the Master Chief the moment the camera spotted him; he didn't even need to know it was him with the zoom-in feature the camera provided to get a better look. The picture stopped at the moment the Spartan touched the knob and reactivated the bomb.

"Chieftain, was that not the Spartan you said you fought on two occurrences some time ago?" Truth asked. Tartarus nodded, then forced a smile.

"He killed himself…with the bomb…didn't he?" He asked. Grimm and Truth shook their heads, Grimm looking even more dissatisfied than Truth did. The video continued to play to show the Master Chief jump off of the bomb and out of the picture, before the camera was obliterated and nothing else was seen.

"We had reports that the Master Chief had landed on one of the human ships, safely." Grimm added. Tartarus's eye twitched, and he growled out loud, then said.

"I will find him my Elders, and I shall kill him." He kneeled once more and walked toward the exit, giving the Engineer his empty goblet before leaving entirely.

"I don't like him. He cannot be trusted." Grimm muttered.

"Yes, that's what the Covenant thought, I constantly got complaints about him, but he is a powerful and inspiring leader Chancellor." Truth replied.

"Exactly, how do we know he won't betray us once we began to lose and go to the humans and Covenant once more?" Grimm asked.

"He and I have a bond Chancellor; he won't do anything I don't want him to." The Prophet said. Grimm, sensing Tartarus as a traitor, didn't reply.

* * *

As Tartarus walked down another dark hallway, a Brute rushed up and joined him.

"Chieftain, we've found the ship the Master Chief has put himself on." The Brute reported. Tartarus gained interest.

"Yes? Tell me."

"The ship's name is _A Grievous Fate_." The Brute said. Tartarus, knowing just who the owner of that ship was, boomed out in laughter.

"So, the damned droid is still at work? Ha, ha, excellent. Prepare my Phantom and a few men; we will be going there soon." He said.

"Yes sir." The Brute replied and rushed off.

**Well I decided to upload two chapters this time, since it's a snow day up here in Iowa and I probably will be too busy later to upload for awhile. Anyway, I hoped you liked these two chapters, and hope you look forward to more.**


	4. Ship Assault

**Chapter 4**

Ship: _A Grievous Fate _

"General, incoming message from Commander 'Takimee." Nikki reported.

"Bring him up on the hologram monitor." Grievous ordered and turned to a small platform, similar to that the Abaters used but had human technology activating it. A white-armored Elite appeared on the platform, his appearance reminding one of a television channel with bad reception, filled with static yet sound was still clear and it was still easy to tell it was the spec ops commander.

"General Grievous, it's been some time." The Elite began.

"Please Commander; I have heard enough of that." Grievous said. "What is your status on the Eva Unit 04?"

"We are hot on their tail. The Committee hasn't granted us any information about the child itself, we don't even know it is male or female. But my Pelicans should be up to the child by morning. How is the battle going?" He said.

"Very well Commander," Grievous replied. "Their ships are pulling back, we've won this round, however we should clean up their forces on Earth before they come back." 'Takimee nodded.

"Yes, and the Chief?" He asked.

"He's on a spy mission as of now." Grievous replied.

"Spy? Where?" 'Takimee sounded confused. Grievous bent down towards the hologram and checked the room for Abigail.

"There's a Committee who is supposed to be 'grading' me and my ship, I've sent the Chief out to make sure she doesn't go snooping." He said. 'Takimee clacked his mandibles in acknowledgment.

"I see, well, pleasure speaking with you again Grievous." He said and blinked out of existence on the platform. There was a moment of silence as Grievous looked back out into the dying down battle, then Nikki jumped.

"General, something's attaching itself to one of our escape hatches!" She reported.

"Chief, did you hear that?" Grievous asked into a COM channel.

_"No sir." _The Master Chief answered.

"There's an enemy ship in the docking bay, go find it and kill whoever is inside." Grievous ordered.

_"Yes sir."_ The Spartan said and signed off.

* * *

Snatching an SMG off of a weapons rack in the weapons room, the Master Chief marched down the hallway toward the docking bay. To his left windows showing the darkness of space where located, he hardly even bothered to look out into one of them, knowing his mission, he had to accomplish it. 

"Hello Sv- I mean Master Chief." Abigail said cheerfully as she stood in front of one of the windows the Chief passed without noticing her. "What are you up to?" She broke away from staring out of the window and followed the Chief.

"Get to your cabin, now." The Master Chief ordered.

"What, why?" Abigail asked. "Can I ask you why are you holding that gun?"

"Classified. Now go." The Spartan ordered.

"You know if you tell me, I won't even tell the Committee, it could be our secret." The dark-haired girl said.

_"Secret, right." _The Spartan thought. _"That's why everyone else knows." _Once the doors to the docking bay came into view, with only a few meters left to go, the Master Chief stopped and turned.

"Officer, you need to go, now." He ordered, much more sternly this time. Abigail crossed her arms and tilted her head.

"Is that any way to talk to someone older than you?" She teased and giggled slightly. The Master Chief wasn't going with the flirting she was giving him, then he turned quickly once the doors to the docking bay opened. He raised the SMG and waited for something, human, Abater, whatever, to come out of there. After a moment of silence, a Marine fell limp to the floor, tossed from an unseen force in the bay, his body broken in a dozen places. Cautiously the Master Chief approached the door, hoping that Abigail left, but instead she was following him.

"Search this ship men, I want Grievous and the Master Chief found, kill anyone and anything else." Tartarus ordered as he walked out of the doorway first, followed by four of his Brutes. One of the Brutes spotted the Master Chief and before he could growl something to the others, he had a barrage of bullets through his helmet and face, killing the Brute. As the beast fell to the floor, the other Brutes turned to face their target. As much as they hid it, both the Master Chief and Tartarus's hearts skipped a beat when they saw each other. To hide his nervousness, Tartarus chuckled.

"Tartarus." The Master Chief muttered. The Brute chieftain slung his mighty hammer over his shoulder.

"Master Chief, it's been a while since…hmm…what was it again? Oh yes, since your foolishness got your precious…" The Brute was cut off when the Spartan couldn't stand to hear him finish and opened fire on the beasts. Tartarus and two of his men hid behind the door they came from, the third however, was killed by another flurry of bullets. "I see you have a weak spot Spartan." Tartarus boomed. "I didn't think it was possible." He laughed. The Master Chief loaded a fresh clip into the SMG and walked up to the nearest dead Brute, taking his plasma rifle and duel wielding the two weapons. "Men, take him out." Tartarus muttered to his last two Brutes. The two Brutes jumped out from their cover and fired from their plasma rifles.

Rolling over and standing up, the Master Chief used himself as a shield for Abigail, who had no cover to use anyway. Firing the SMG and plasma rifle simultaneously, the Spartan had no time to notice his shield flickering and his shields lowering down, so low that there was an emergency alarm inside of his helmet screaming at him of low shields; still, he ignored them until he was satisfied with two Brute bodies on the floor. Slowly his shields regenerated, making him feel better about having shields while the Brutes did not. Tartarus appeared from around the door, forcing his smile.

"Well, well, well, here we are Master Chief, face-to-face once more, and this time." The Brute pointed the head of his hammer at the Spartan. "My toy has a new function with it." The hammer shook and an electric blast shook the Master Chief and like a magnet, pulled the Spartan off his feet and toward Tartarus. Before he hit the end of the hammer, Tartarus moved the hammer and caught the Master Chief in his massive arm. "Pretty neat huh?" He chuckled as his hand wrapped around the Spartan's throat and pulled him up face-to-face with the Brute. "You disappoint me this time around Chief, I was expecting…" Suddenly he felt a jab in his gut and he looked down, the end of the SMG was dug into his hairy stomach, the Chief's finger wrapped around the trigger and ready to fire any second. Tartarus chuckled again and tossed the Chief away. While in midair, the Master Chief pointed both of his weapons at the Brute and fired.

Tartarus was hit, bullets piercing his thick hide and plasma blasts scorching his hair and skin. Stumbling back, the Brute witnessed as his dark blood spilled onto the floor. The Master Chief landed on the floor and his armor scraped against the floor, causing small sparks to fly up into the air. As Abigail dropped to her knees to try and help the Master Chief, the Spartan had already gotten to his feet and posed his weapons once more, just as Tartarus aimed the end of his hammer at him.

"Ha, ha, ha." The Brute laughed. "It would seem we're at a draw." He chuckled again. Quickly the Master Chief dropped his plasma rifle and tossed a grenade at the Brute. However, it appeared that Tartarus's hammer had a second function, as he used it as a magnet once more, only negative, sending the frag grenade back at the Master Chief and Officer Jenkins.

"Get down." The Spartan ordered and pulled Abigail and himself to the floor, the grenade landing behind them and exploding. Since the ship was reinforced with several layers of steel and titanium, the ship was hardly affected, except with a few burn marks on the walls and floor.

"Now Master Chief, feel the wrath of…" Tartarus began but was cut short when the end of an SMG was stuck to the back of his head.

"Drop your weapon." Grievous ordered.

"General Grievous, what a great surprise, your speed versus my strength, this shall be a great…" Tartarus was cut off again when Grievous jabbed the ends of three more SMG's in his back. "I see you're not willing to play along."

"Yes. Chief, take his weapon." Grievous said. The Master Chief grabbed Abigail by the shoulder and hoisted her to her feet and walked over to the Brute's hammer. The weapon being so massive, the Master Chief struggled a bit at first to pick it up, but grabbed it with both hands and slung it over his shoulder, looking like a little toy soldier with a toy hammer two times his size. "Excellent, now, Tartarus, if you could please walk ahead, that would be great." The cyborg said. Tartarus, with his hands raised and following orders, did as he was told, something that made the Master Chief respect Grievous even more, being able to sneak up on Tartarus and give him orders, his hat was certainly off to the cyborg.

* * *

With Tartarus's hands and ankles joined by plasma-cuffs, (basically cuffs around your wrists and ankles, except with plasma instead of metal), the Brute stood behind Grievous at his command station, the Master Chief standing right beside him. 

"Hmm…aren't you worried I might escape, or watch your every movements and learn of your technology?" Tartarus asked, trying to play mind games with Grievous.

"No Tartarus, I am not." Grievous replied. His cloak back on, the cyborg turned around. "I know you don't have the patience or the mind capacity to watch my every movement, or to know exactly how every button in this command deck works. As a general who exceeds in strategic and mind planning, I can find it hard for a Brute to stump me with mind games." The cyborg turned around and faced the main window in the front of the deck.

"Why, you…" Tartarus muttered as he struggled to approach Grievous. He was stopped with the end of an Assault Rifle was stuck into his face. The Master Chief, as usual, was silent. The Brute forced a smile and returned to his original stance, not that he got that far with the cuffs around his ankles. If it were up to him, the Spartan would've unloaded a clip or two into that Brute's face.

"Hmm…your ships have left you Tartarus." Grievous said, clasped his long fingers together. "Your battle has been lost." Tartarus was about to say 'They'll come for me' when he had a feeling they wouldn't, so he remained silent.

* * *

Abigail sat on her bed and pulled up a laptop and turned it on. The black screen came to life and Abigail typed in something, a code of some sort, and with a blink a large, plump man appeared on the screen. He was bald, with dark, cruel eyes and a cigar hanging out from the side of his mouth. Wearing one of his many fine suits, it was none other than Bill Kingsley, head of the Committee. 

"This is Officer Abigail Jenkins Mr. Kingsley, with my report of Grievous's ship so far." The dark-haired girl said. Kingsley, disgusted already with the mere name of Grievous, took a puff from his cigar and looked at Abigail with one of his cold stares.

"Yes, how bad is it?" He grumbled. Abigail brought up her clipboard and looked through it, before looked back at Kingsley.

"Everything seems to be in order so far Mr. Kingsley." She said. Kingsley's eyes widened a bit.

"What? Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, his crew is active, healthy, alert, and as of now the battle going on has been won Mr. Kingsley." Abigail replied. Kingsley muttered to himself and took the cigar out of his mouth.

"What about the Spartan, how's he abusing him?" He snapped. Abigail, without having to even look at her report nodded.

"He's using the Master Chief very responsibly Mr. Kingsley, having the Chief deactivate a bomb, return the bomb to the largest Abater ship in the battle, reactivate it, and return to safety while the bomb destroyed the ship." She said. Kingsley grunted and stuck the cigar back into his mouth.

"Don't be fooled, he's a sinister being who cannot be trusted." He growled.

"Oh, and the Master Chief and General Grievous managed to capture Tartarus the Brute chieftain, alive." Abigail added finally. Kingsley's eyes widened and the cigar dropped from his mouth onto his desk.

"Tartarus? The Brute who killed the princess of England Tartarus?" He asked. Abigail nodded. "V-very well, thank you for the report, signing out." And with that, he disappeared and the screen went black.


	5. Eva01: Battle for Tokyo03

**Chapter 5**

_Tokyo-03, Japan _

An odd figure slowly walked around the city, menacing yet mysterious, its purpose wasn't quite known. Having a dark body, a skull-like face or mask between its shoulders, long clawed fingers, and a red jewel on its chest, protected slightly by rib bones extending from its shadow-like body. It turned once it heard the squeal of rubber burning against the concrete and a heavily-armored van turned a corner and head full speed towards it. The creature, an Abater known as a Gravedigger, because of its skeletal appearance, put a hand forward. The van smashed into its hand, crushing the front of the van without so much as budging the Gravedigger. Then, from the palm of its hand, a sharp, almost plasma-like spike, shot out and pierced the van with ease. A moment passed, and then the van lit up in flames, again not affecting the Abater as it slowly walked away from the wreckage.

A lavender figure could be seen among the flames, like the Gravedigger, he was not affected by the fire licking up at him or his armor. The being was an Eva, Eva Unit 01 to be specific. The wearer of the armor, Shinji Ikari, stared down the Gravedigger as it walked away, oblivious to his presence. Shinji's armor was mostly purple, with several patches of neon green and blue, and around his throat there was some orange. His Assault Rifle torched with the flames, the Eva knew he was going to have to do this hand-to-hand. Squatting down, Shinji prepared himself for the leap when he pushed off with all of the might in his legs toward the Abater. It was now that the young Japanese man realized...he no longer was controlling the suit!

Sensing danger, the Gravedigger turned around quickly, just in time to get two purple boots dug deep into its chest and sending it back, however its feet were still planted on the ground, it appeared that the Abater's back would've been broken from that, as it seem horizontal with the Eva pummeling it and on top of it. However, its arms wrapped themselves around Shinji and tried to force the air out of him. Shinji pulled away from the Gravedigger in another tremendous leap, landing with his back turned to the Abater in a crouched position. He stood up and turned around quickly, facing the foe once more. His legs braced once more, when Shinji took off at an amazing speed towards the Gravedigger, who was apparently still struggling with its back problem. Once the Eva was ready to strike, the Gravedigger shot its torso back into normal position and a shield deflected Shinji, sending him back quite a bit. This shield wasn't like the one an Eva or Spartan had, it was more like a force field, able to deflect objects from a distance.

His anger growing, Shinji, or say his armor dashed toward the Gravedigger once more. Once the orange shield started up once again, the Eva shot its hand out and penetrated the shield, but only enough for his fingers to make it through. However, pushing out in different directions, the shield began to flicker and it was obvious that Eva-01 was breaking through the shield. Once he managed to pull it out as wide as his arms would go, the shield flickered once more and died. From the two eyes on the Gravedigger's mask, an astounding blast was created that absorbed Shinji and everything in the blast's path, the van and other vehicles lining the streets were obliterated instantly. As the smoke clear and the Gravedigger felt that it won, it felt fear for the first time in its life when it saw Eva-01, still where he stood before the blast, before he sent out a fist to punch the Gravedigger to one side, then his other fist shot out and hit it the other direction.

While in this brutal beating, the Abater was helpless when Shinji grabbed its arms with one hand tightly and twisted them, a snapping of bone was heard and blue gore oozed from its broken arms. Eva-01 held the arms up and kicked the Gravedigger dead on in its red jewel chest, sending the creature reeling across the concrete into a car, smashing a large dent into it. It didn't end there either, for Eva-01 charged in on the down Abater, tackling it and sending him, it, and the car back several more meters until they skidded to a stop. The Gravedigger seemed helpless as Eva-01 began to beat on its jeweled chest, going so far as to tear of its rib bones and use one of them to crack the jewel. The Gravedigger didn't give up there however, for it shot itself up and constricted its body around Eva-01, becoming flexible in an instant and almost absorbing the Eva in its blackness.

It began to glow and suddenly the entire block was engulfed in fire. The Abater had a self-destruct sequence for when it was corner and as a last resort weapon. Its attempt to kill Shinji failed however, for the Eva still stood on his feet, almost invincible, that is, until half of his helmet slid off from the rest and crashed onto the destroyed ground, revealing his brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin.

_"Good work Shinji; we will dispatch a team to get you." _A woman's voice said, Major Misato Katsuragi. Shinji looked down on his helmet, seeing into its dark eyes and thinking.

_"It happened again, the suit took over again." _He thought. For some time, whenever Shinji got mad in battle, his Eva armor would seem to take over and as some of the creators called it, berserker mode, a mode that the Committee had yet to test or even prove true, so far Shinji was the only child to experience it. Berserker mode to Shinji was when the armor he was inside of takes control of your actions and annihilates any and all threats in any manner, brutally, quickly, and so on, but all were done efficiently.

* * *

Shinji returned to the base, his broken helmet in hand, he was welcomed openly by Dr. Winchester, Victoria, her husband, Walter, their son, Caleb, and Winchester's granddaughter, Amy Winchester. Amy and Shinji had been going out for a month now, so the black-haired girl ran up and hugged Shinji tightly, almost laughing with happiness. They, as well as most of the members of the base near Fair Oaks, had moved to Tokyo where Shinji's father, Gendo Ikari, commanded the Committee base and ensured all civilians were safe. 

Shinji disliked his father, but for some reason, would never say he hated him, instead, for these years he had been trying to gain his acknowledgement. Gendo had left Shinji when he was three in a foster home, shortly after his mother died. Shinji's father was just beginning to command the base when his wife had Shinji, and three years later, her death resulted in Gendo's permanent rejection of his own son. Never writing to Shinji unless he needed something from him, when he was a child his last letter was asking him to come visit him, where he and several members of the Committee tricked Shinji into become Eva-01. Shinji hated to fight, but since he had become Eva-01, he had no choice, he was doing it for everyone else on the planet, and he knew that there were dozens of others just like him fighting everyday.

"You did well." Amy whispered into Shinji's ear. Shinji turned red and thanked her. Amy was a girl about Shinji's age, having short black hair with blue eyes, like her grandfather, Ami was known to be very intelligent and always in a positive mood, though once another Eva, Alexis Langley Swans, noted their relationship as _'prude'_. Dr. Winchester, a man in his late fifties or so, smiled kindly, not finding a thing wrong in his granddaughter dating an Eva, and stepped forward.

"Shinji, I think you should go get yourself out of that armor, the scientists here will fix it right up for you." He said. Ami released Shinji to allow for him to look at the scientist, and nod.

"Okay, thank you." He said. Amy grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him down the hall toward the bay where Shinji's armor was when the boy wasn't wearing it. Winchester chuckled out loud in front of Victoria Myer and her family. The Evas and Spartans from the base he used to command were like his own children to him, at first he felt that bond with the Master Chief, but after a while, he began to feel the same way about Eva-00, Eva-02, the Senior Chief, and Shinji, he missed them all. Ray, Eva-00, was with the spec ops group hunting down and tracking the dangerous Eva Unit 04, and as 'Takimee's last report went; they were just on his or her tail. They hadn't heard from Alexis since she returned to Germany with Eva Units 06 and 07.

Walter whispered something in his wife's ear and waited for a response. The dark-haired scientist nodded to him and released her son's hand. Walter and Victoria smiled at each other lovingly as the man took his son's hand and led him down another hallway.

"Where's he going?" Winchester asked, just as Walter left the hallway.

"Going to get something to eat." Victoria replied.

"You should go with them you know." Winchester said as he turned to her, concerned yet a comforting smile still on his face. Victoria waved it off.

"Oh don't worry about me; I already got my meal of the afternoon." She said and sighed.

"Something wrong?" The scientist asked.

"Oh…nothing." She sighed again. "It's just…" She checked to make sure Walter and her son were gone entirely. "Someone dear to me is turning eighteen here pretty soon and I haven't seen them in over seven years."

"Who?" Winchester asked, a bit interested in this since Victoria was quite mysterious to him, her life anyway, she hardly spoke of anything from her childhood.

"Promise you won't tell my husband?" Victoria asked. Winchester, very interested now, nodded his head. "Well, almost eighteen years ago, I met Colonel Bartholomew Jenkins. We got married, and…we had a child, Abigail Jenkins. But after a few years our work split us apart and we divorced, he was commanding a military squad; I was busy with the base near Fair Oaks. I haven't seen Abigail in so long; I have no clue what she's doing right now, where she is, or what she even looks like now. Last time I heard…she's become a very sick child, usually in the hospital, and without her father or me to be there." She sighed. "I feel awful, if I only knew where she was, I'd be there with her right now." Winchester was quite surprised by this, Victoria was always good at keeping secrets, and keeping something like this secret for so long without anyone but the Jenkins to know, and he couldn't even imagine to pain she endured bottling that up. He smiled again comfortingly.

"If Colonel Jenkins is still in the military, I could ask him." He suggested.

"No, no. I'll ask him myself Doctor, thank you." Victoria replied, though appreciating the concern from Winchester very much. To change to subject, she asked. "Where's Fred at?"

"Oh, yes, well he just left the New York-02 base and is on his way up to General Grievous's ship as we speak I believe, I spoke to him before he left." The scientist said. Victoria nodded. For some time it had seemed like she and Frederick MacDonald were like brother and sister, having their occasional senseless bickering, yet both had a deep respect for one another.

* * *

"Gendo Ikari..." A television screen filled with static spoke in a rough voice. There sat, in a luxurious board room, a mysterious man at the head of the long table that glimmered in the light, just opposite of the television, and three Committee members were seated on each side of the table. The mysterious man, Gendo Ikari, or head of the Committee base in Japan, sat quietly with his chin resting on his clasped gloved fingers. A man in his forties, Gendo's hair was dark, with facial hair on his face, in a chinstrap manner, from one ear to the other. He also wore fine, proper clothing, and his reddish glasses were glinting in the lighted room.

"Ah, Mr. Kingsley, good to have you with us." Gendo began. The television screen quickly snapped as clean as the best plasma screen TV around, with the Committee headman present on it.

"We have some questions for you Mr. Ikari." A Committee man said. Though he did not seem fazed, Gendo clearly saw that the Committee had turned the meeting around so he was the one who was being asked questions.

"Yeah," Another grumbled. "Why did the shields go out, allowing for the Gravedigger to proceed into civilian grounds?"

"The shields malfunction, it happens." Gendo replied calmly. "You should be thankful it wasn't an Abater armada."

"What if it was?" Someone asked. The others, excluding Kingsley, blared out in agreement.

"Yes, the people of this city are in jeopardy." Kingsley stated, almost acting as if he cared. Suddenly the phone resting beside Gendo rang, and the Committee base headman answered it. A moment passed, then Gendo looked up, not surprised, not scared, just his blank face.

"Yes. Alright. Mmm-hmm." He hang the phone up and looked to Kingsley. "Enemy threat disposed of." He said. Most of the men in the board room mumbled things among themselves.

"Already? One asked, dumbfounded.

"But...but it just happened by the time we sat down and..." Another began.

"Please, gentlemen, it's alright." Kingsley said, before looking at Gendo smugly. "We should thank the commander and his _son_ for their great job."

"I'd like to ask something." A Committee man started, changing the subject. "Where is that Eva-04?" Quickly the room turned against Gendo in a heartbeat once more.

"You know the whereabouts of the Evangelion Unit 04 are out of my power. We have a special operations team searching for the child as we speak." Gendo replied.

"Well, it's been months!" A board member exclaimed. Another rally of angry voices started up again.

"I heard the 'child' was killed in the base along with the armor, why should we worry? We haven't even had any reports of any Eva-04." Another board member stated. This time, however, the others he was working with glared at him.

"Mr. Ikari, I'll leave you with this. Your services are passable but not acceptable. We'll see you next term." And with that, the large man was reduced to nothing more than a blank screen. All of the Committee board members stood up and left the room, leaving Gendo there, sitting as he did before, now alone. As he sat in silence, he smirked to himself.

"See you next term..." He murmured to himself.


	6. Escape

**Chapter 6**

_Ship: A Grievous Fate_

_Abigail's bedroom_

Abigail laid on her bed, her report finished; there was nothing else for her to do but to stare up at the ceiling. She was thinking about what she had seen earlier, the Master Chief and Grievous had captured Tartarus, who had a huge reward for his head, but not only that, but she was thinking of when the Master Chief stepped in front of her to protect her from the Brutes. Before her mind could wander any further, one of her illnesses was coming up again and she jumped to the waste basket in the corner of her dark room.

She was alone in this world she believed. She hadn't seen her mother in so long, and her father, who was among the ships Grievous was commanding at the moment, had no clue she was even in the military. Though she never had much time with weapons, or trained in the fighting classes, she did know how to fire a pistol, which sometimes could be the most useful weapon. She was in the hospital again six months earlier, when her father mailed her the report that got her to become intrigued by the Spartans and Evas. Fighting the sickness in her, she raised her head up, her hands shaking and her face growing pale, and carried the waste basket with her back to her bed, where she placed it beside her feet and she laid back in her original position.

_"I…I can't do it…"_ She thought. _"I'm too weak for the army…nobody knows I'm here…or even cares…" _She thought of Kingsley, someone one would expect to be a father figure, but instead, he was a rude man who only thought of himself, and even tried to get Abigail drunk once at a Committee meeting. Since she was always sick and in the hospital, Abigail had never had any friends as a child, her parents the only people she cared about or cared about her, but when they divorced, she was flung into sadness once more, especially with her father never being there for her, always out in battle, though she was proud of him, she couldn't help but feel lonely, then the tears came.

* * *

A man in a fine black suit, with shiny black hair combed finely to the side, with matching black sunglasses, walked down the hall towards the command deck, his name, Fred MacDonald, a man in his late thirties to early forties, one would expect Fred to be a straight-forward man who always went down to business. Actually, he was pretty laid back, one of the people who kidnapped the Master Chief as a child and turned him into what he became today; Fred did in fact have quite a great sense of humor. Slowly he came to a halt once he heard a noise inside someone's cabin. Slowly and cautiously Fred pressed his ear up against the metal door, hearing somebody sobbing inside, insulting herself and telling herself no one was ever going to love her. He looked up at the door number, room # 274. His mind remembering that as if he were writing it down on a piece of paper, Frederick continued toward the command bay. The doors slid open. 

"Hello Gener- Whoa!" He nearly jumped out of his shoes the moment he saw Tartarus, still cuffed, with the Master Chief guarding the Brute, and Grievous still commanding his ships and personnel. The cyborg turned around to greet Fred.

"Ah, Frederick, glad you could make it. Do not mind Tartarus, he's stuck in those plasma cuffs." Grievous said.

"Not for long cyborg." Tartarus snapped.

"The moment you break loose Brute, either I or the Chief will break your legs in a dozen places." Grievous shot back. The cyborg looked back to his old friend and smiled under his helmet in a sincere manner.

"General, could I have a word with you for a moment?" Fred asked. Grievous nodded and accompanied the man outside of the room, waiting until the doors slid shut to speak.

"What is it my friend?" Grievous asked.

"Who's sleeping in room 274?" Fred asked.

"274…274…" The cyborg thought of the number. "Ah, that's the little worm the Committee sent to try and shut me down, again." Grievous said harshly.

"Sure she's a worm?" Fred asked. "I went by her room and heard her crying about something."

"It's probably nothing." Grievous replied.

"Can't you go check it out? I will if you want." Fred said, always having a sense of honor and duty to go with his funny side.

"Fine." Grievous sighed and walked back into the command room, fetching Nikki by the shoulder and returning to Fred, again making sure the doors shut. "Ms. Adams, I ask of you to see what Officer Jenkins is up to in Room 274." He released her shoulder and watched her walk down the hall to Abigail's room. "Problem solved, female has a problem, send a fellow female in, they speak the same language anyway." Grievous grumbled and returned to his post, this time with Fred by his side.

"Oh, hello Master Chief, long time no see." Fred said.

"Hello sir." The Spartan said and nodded. Fred walked past him and to Grievous's side. The Master Chief couldn't help but look down the hall, seeing as Nikki knocked on Abigail's door and the door opened. He couldn't see the dark-haired girl from his position, but he watched as Nikki spoke to her about something, then Abigail allowed for the assistant to come in, and the door closed. While watching, the Master Chief made the mistake of lowering his weapon to Tartarus. The Brute laughed out loud.

"Fool!" He boomed and broke from his cuffs with effortless ease. As the Spartan raised his weapon, the Brute knocked it out of his hand and then struck him with his other hand, knocking down the Spartan.

"Quick, his hammer!" Grievous exclaimed, but was too late. Tartarus snatched his hammer leaning up against the wall and aimed it at Grievous and Fred, everyone scrambling around the room froze.

"Now then, your foolishness has cost you my head; I shall kill you all once I regain my army!" His hammer shot out a shockwave and sent Grievous reeling out into the glass window, cracking it slightly, but not enough to shatter it. By the time he was on his knees, the Master Chief witnessed as Tartarus made his escape, then he looked to Grievous, who was on his knees now coughing sickly. Fred and the other crew members were surrounding the cyborg, helping him to his feet.

"Chief…go…get…the scum!" Grievous said before breaking into coughs once more.

"Yes sir!" The Master Chief said and took off down the hall, being much faster than the bulky Brute; it was only a matter of mere seconds before he would catch up to Tartarus. However, Tartarus turned around and shot off another shockwave which struck the Spartan directly, sending even the Master Chief reeling down the hall to a skidding stop on the floor. He wasn't giving up, as he watched Tartarus dash for the ship bay, he began to sprint again, determined to catch the Brute even to his dying breath!

* * *

"So what's bothering you Officer?" Nikki asked, leaning up against the wall as Abigail sat on her bed, the dark-haired girl's eyes red and watery. She fought it for a moment, but then she buried her face in her hands. 

"I'm worthless!" She sobbed. "Nobody loves me." Grievous's assistant just about rolled her eyes and thought _'Great, an angsty teen."_

"Why do you think that?" Nikki asked, keeping away from her thoughts. Abigail sniffled and looked back up at Grievous's assistant, who, unlike Grievous, seemed kind and caring.

"Because I've never had any friends…I'm always sick in the hospital, my mother left me when I was a child, my father's always fighting battles, and neither of them know I'm here, in the military." She looked away as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What?" Nikki exclaimed. "You're sick? Then you don't belong here Officer, you need to be home." She said.

"I know, but I want to be somebody instead of the girl who died in her sleep, I wanted to see and be with Sve- I mean the Master Chief before I die." She sniffled again. Nikki serious look slowly turned into a sly grin.

"So _that's_ why you joined the army, to be with him?" She asked. Abigail nodded slowly. "Ha, good luck, he doesn't open up to _any_body!" Nikki began to laugh a bit. "I've been with him on this ship for six months and I haven't even seen his face once." Abigail looked to her hands, clasping them together, and then nodded.

"You're right…it was stupid of me." She said sadly. "It was just another dream I'll never have fulfilled." She stood up and opened the door. "I'll ask Grievous to transport me back to Earth." Her voice was slightly less lively now, which made Nikki feel actually quite bad. She didn't mean to shatter one of Abigail's last hopes like that, but she did. Suddenly the dark-haired girl's green eyes lit up just as another sonic boom echoed throughout the hallway and the Master Chief came sliding down the hall once more. She peeked down the hall and saw as Tartarus turned and entered the ship dock.

"Chief, what's going on?" Nikki exclaimed, peeking over Abigail's shoulder to see the Spartan. Rising up from his crouched position, the Master Chief looked at the two. He said nothing and sprinted down the hall again. Abigail, fighting the urge as much as she could, ran down the hall after the Spartan. Nikki was about to run after the girl, but then ran to the command deck instead, upon realizing just who had escaped. Grievous was on his feet now, still coughing horribly.

"General, how'd Tartarus escape?" She asked.

"He…_ COUGH..._broke out of his cuffs…" Grievous said and bent over coughing once more.

* * *

"Stay back human!" Tartarus boomed leaped into the back of a docked Pelican and ran up to the controls. The Master Chief dashed towards the Pelican, but the open hatch slid shut and the engines roared. The doors weren't open, and the Master Chief was quick enough to realize what the Brute was about to do. He turned and ran back toward the doors, just as Abigail appeared and opened them. 

The Pelican shot forward and smashed through the glass and metal doors, soon the vacuum of space began to suck out everything, other Pelicans, weapons from the weapons rack, Warthogs (jeeps with a turret on the back) and anything else that was loose. The Master Chief shot his right hand out and latched onto one of the doors. Abigail was pulled in however, but before she was sucked out, a green-armored hand shot out and grabbed hers. Looking up, the dark-haired girl felt her heart jump as she saw her hero rescuing her. Without so much as a grunt, the Spartan pulled Abigail and himself back into the base and shut the doors. Sighing from relief, the Master Chief released Abigail's hand and looked down the hall.

"Thank you Sv…I mean Chief." Abigail said graciously. "What are you going to do with the Brute missing?" She asked. The Master Chief looked at her, however he said nothing. Abigail, a bit confused, merely nodded. The Chief still looked at her though.

"Were…were you crying?" He asked, noticing her red eyes. Abigail, not being able to lie to him, nodded slowly. "I'm sorry." The Spartan said softly before turned away and walking toward another bay. Abigail bit her lip and looked up.

"Chief?" She asked. The Spartan stopped and looked over his shoulder; even though he knew every moment he stood here talking was costing him any chance to capture Tartarus again. "C-can I come with you? I'm done here, and…and I want to quit the Committee." The Spartan turned to her, his figure towering over hers.

"No." He simply said. Abigail brought her hands together, almost appearing as if she were begging.

"Please Chief? All I want to do it leave here." Though that was only half of the truth, she also wanted to leave with the Master Chief. The Spartan was about to say something, but Grievous came in on the COM channel.

_"Chief, has Tartarus escaped?" _He asked.

"Yes sir." The Master Chief said.

_"Damn it…well, we know he's heading to Earth, you might be able to head him off with an escape pod. Go now Chief, go!" _Grievous exclaimed.

"Yes sir." The Spartan said and signed off. Without speaking to Abigail, he walked down the hall and turned left, a room just next to the docking bay. Abigail followed him and was quite amazed by the impressive weapons rack and large rectangular objects to the left of the room. They were cushioned inside, had doors connected by hinges on their left side, and looked big enough to fit one full-grown man, they were no doubt escape pods. The Master Chief snatched two SMG's, placed one on his belt, and grabbed a rocket launcher with his free hand. He placed the rocket launcher in one of the escape pods and turned to Abigail. "Coming?" He asked. Abigail was quite surprised, at first he didn't want to bring her, now he did. She nodded. "Grab a weapon then." He said and laid down in the padding of the escape pod, then closed the door.

Hesitating for a moment, the dark-haired girl slowly clasped her fingers around an SMG and took it off the rack, then laid down in the escape pod right next to the Chief's, and closed the door.

"Alright, you see that red button next to your head?" The Master Chief asked, loud enough for the girl to hear.

"Yes." Abigail said, looking at the little glowing button.

"Okay, on the count of three, press it." The Spartan ordered. "One…two…three!" And at the sound of three, they both pressed the red button and were shot off, down towards Earth.


	7. Reunion in Moscow02

**Chapter 6**

_Moscow-02, Russia_

"I'm so cold." Natasha shivered as she and Michel walked outside into the cold night. They had finished their dance some time ago and were walking about the art museum for the time being. Without a word spoken, Michel wrapped his arm around her.

"Is that better?" He asked. Strangely, Michel didn't seem very affected by the cold breeze of the night. Natasha nodded.

"Yes Michel, thank you." It didn't really, but she felt something odd with Michel arm around her. Michel smiled kindly.

"I'm glad I could help." He said and looked up, just as a few flakes of snow hit him. "Odd…the shields, they should be able to block out the snow correct?" He asked. Natasha nodded, then looked up, seeing the snow fall as well, the blue shields were gone, someone must've been passing through, probably in a Pelican or Longsword.

"It's nothing; the shields will come back on." She said softly. Suddenly they felt a cold rush of wind sweep over them and they saw a Pelican flying at full speed pass over them.

"Hmm…that was odd." Michel said. Next two glowing fireballs appeared from the dark clouds. Natasha worried what they were, but Michel was slightly intrigued. The two fireballs shot out a parachute from their head which slowed them down considerably, yet still powerful enough to sink themselves into the ground by almost a foot. The escape pods, as Michel had learned they were, were sizzling from burning in the atmosphere, and had landed nearly fifteen meters away, enough to scare any normal civilian, or soldier for that matter, out of their mind. Upon learning that the door was jammed, the Master Chief kicked his door open and the door flew off its hinges, sparks flew as it scraped across the ground, stopping at Michel's feet, Natasha backed away in fright. The Spartan scanned the area warily with his SMG, before slinging the rocket launcher from the pod on over his shoulder. Abigail opened her door and felt sick again, but managed to keep it down. Michel smiled brightly at the Spartan.

"Sven McGregor, it feels good to see you again." He said, his voice with much more joy in it than normal. The Master Chief studied the being from a ways away, then he felt his spirit leap as well.

"Michel." He said with a nod of acknowledgment and walked up to his old friend. "It's good to see you." He handed the rocket launcher in his left arm over to Michel, who slung it over his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Michel asked. Abigail walked up beside the Master Chief and looked at the Senior Chief nervously. "Hello there, who's this?"

"This is Officer Jenkins." The Master Chief said. Michel was about to use one of his kind greetings and shake her hand, but the Chief cut him off. "Tartarus has escaped." Michel looked at him, not quite a serious look, but not a happy or laid-back one either.

"I didn't know he was captured, but I will help you. Let me inform Rykov." The silver-haired boy replied. The Master Chief nodded and watched as Michel and Natasha rushed inside, then couldn't help but look over to Abigail, rubbing her hands together to keep warm.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Abigail looked up at him, surprised, she nodded shakily.

"Y-yes, I'm just cold." She replied.

"Go inside." The Spartan said. The dark-haired girl was about to reply but suddenly she felt so happy by the kind suggestion and conversation she was holding with him, that she actually fainted and fell limp. The Master Chief shot an arm out and caught her before she could hit the hard cobblestone. Under his helmet, the Chief looked around in an confused manner, what just happened? He thought.

* * *

"General." Michel called out. Everyone all stopped their dancing and stared at the boy with the rocket launcher over his shoulder, Natasha grew red from all the attention. Rykov stood up.

"Michel, where did you get that?" The general asked in a harsh tone.

"The Master Chief has arrived General." Michel replied. "He said he and an Officer Jenkins are following the Brute Tartarus." Rykov looked to Dimitri and his wife and bowed.

"I apologize, let me speak with him a moment." He turned and swiftly walked up to Michel, almost furious. "What is going on?"

"Look outside General, the Master Chief is…" Michel turned and saw the Master Chief with Abigail in her arms. "What happened?" He asked, loosing the conversation with Rykov and walking up to his old friend.

"I don't know." The Chief said. "She just fainted." Slowly and gently, the Spartan set Abigail down on the floor, before standing up again. "Get into your armor." He said. Michel nodded and rushed off; the Chief didn't know where he went, wherever his armor was no doubt. Placing his other SMG on his belt, the Master Chief, still on one knee, looked up to see Rykov there.

"I didn't expect you to be here." The general said.

"Grievous's orders, follow and capture Tartarus at all costs sir." The Master Chief said as he stood up and saluted.

"Good to see you again Master Chief." Rykov motioned for the Chief to lower his hand. "How did the enemy get here?" He asked.

"Pelican sir." The Spartan replied.

"Hmm…I don't think we have anything but other Pelicans here to match it, unless Commander 'Takimee were here, the Pelicans and Phantoms under his command have been modified with speed." Rykov stated. The Master Chief thought for a moment.

"How do you suppose we could reach 'Takimee?" He asked.

* * *

_Beijing-02, China_

"Area clear sir." An Eva in black armor said as he returned from inside an abandoned warehouse, another suspected hiding place of the insane and lethal Eva Unit 04. This Eva, Eva Unit 03, was named Galvin Anderson, who underneath his black armor looked like a jock, with black, finely trimmed hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. He lowered his Assault Rifle and looked at his commander, Tura 'Takimee, and the rest of his team, Ray, Eva Unit 00, was also there, serving as spec ops sniper, Zuri 'Zukamee, an Elite in black armor, held his Carbine and looked over to 'Takimee as the Elite tightened his fists.

"Damn it, I was sure the Eva was here." 'Takimee said and paced around. The team consisted of mostly black-armored, spec ops Elites, with the exception of the spec ops commander and two Evas. There were three other Elites, Jama 'Jargomee, a hot-headed Elite trained with duel wielding plasma rifles, Kigha 'Kakomee, the Elite with more balls than brains, exactly what spec ops required, and Vaco 'Verimee, a mute like Ray who only spoke when he figured out a solution to a problem. 'Takimee turned toward the Pelican. "Well, better get ready to head off again." He sighed. A click came on in his helmet; someone on the COM channel was calling him.

"We're never going to find the Eva." 'Jargomee muttered to everyone. "We've been searching for six months and found no Eva Unit 04."

"Hmm…? Who is this?" 'Takimee asked, talking to someone else on the other line. "Yes, the Pelican is in top shape, why? What? Who is this?" He asked again. Slowly a smile crept on his mandibles. "Good to hear from you Chief." As they walked toward the Pelican they paused, and Ray and 'Zukamee perked up, knowing now who was on the other line. 'Takimee turned around, smiling now. "Yes, we can be there in no time, let me get two more Pelicans. Good hearing from you."

He signed off and stomped his booted foot on the ground, all of his men snapped to.

"That was Spartan-015, the Master Chief as you may know him, and he has informed me of Tartarus running loose in Moscow. We have a new mission team, get to Moscow, capture Tartarus, and I will promise you a break from searching." 'Jargomee flared his mandibles in agreement, while the others raised their firsts. "'Kakomee, prep another Pelican for combat take Eva 03 with you, 'Zukamee, you and Eva 00 take the other Pelican. 'Jargomee, 'Verimee, you'll be coming with me." His clacked his mandibles. "Now let's go!"

* * *

Taking less than two hours to reach Moscow from Beijing, 'Takimee knew where to go, thanks to the Master Chief informing them of their position. He, 'Zukamee, and Ray felt a little more upbeat since hearing from the Spartan, simply because they had all been out of contact for so long. The three Pelican dropships found an abandoned street in front of the State Tretyakov Gallery, and landed before it. The special operations commander hurried to meet with those waiting for him, 'Jargomee and 'Verimee followed him as he hopped down from the Pelican and walked swiftly out to the front of the gallery to be greeted by the Master and Senior Chiefs, and Rykov.

"Where is the Brute?" 'Takimee asked, not allowing his happiness of seeing them to pour out.

"He's somewhere around Moscow. We've called an alert to have all civilians evacuate, it will not be long until Tartarus's men come to find him." Rykov stated.

"Ah, well my squad is ready to scout the entire city for him." 'Takimee said. From the other two Pelicans the others came out, standing behind their commander.

"We won't be needing all three of your ships Commander." Rykov replied. "Only one, the other two must be used to evacuate the President, his family, and the others here at the ball."

"Alright," 'Takimee said, then clacked his mandibles to those who just appeared from the other two Pelicans, signaling them to ready the Pelicans once more. "Where to?"

"I would imagine Tokyo-03; expect Commander Ikari to give you a decent welcome." Rykov replied. 'Takimee nodded and looked over his shoulder.

"Officer 'Zukamee, Eva 00, stay here, 'Jargomee and 'Verimee will be transporting the civilians to Tokyo." Without a sound, the four beings switched sides, with the two Elites walking toward one of the Pelicans and 'Zukamee and Ray standing beside 'Takimee. The Elite smiled at the Spartans. "I figured it would be nice for you four to have a reunion." He turned toward his Pelican, stopped, and looked over his shoulder. "Get the civilians ready quickly, every moment we spend searching for Tartarus could mean a moment we could be spending finding Eva Unit 04."

* * *

As the Master Chief carried Abigail out towards one of the Pelicans for civilians, Rykov stopped him.

"Chief, who's that?" He asked.

"Officer Jenkins sir." The Spartan replied.

"She's not a civilian; put her in 'Takimee's Pelican, she'll wake up sooner or later." The Russian general said. The Master Chief nodded.

"Yes sir." He said and walked up to the fighter Pelican. 'Zukamee was sitting on the end of the open hatch, looking out at the President and his family getting ready to leave, Natasha speaking with Michel about something, when the Spartan caught his attention.

"Hello Master Chief, it's been some time." He said with a smile on his mandibles.

"Yes it has." The Spartan replied and jumped up into the Pelican, strapping Abigail down to her seat and then sitting down beside 'Zukamee. Ray was sitting in the Pelican as well, though she never joined in conversation with anyone, only rarely.

"What's been going on with your life?" 'Zukamee asked. "I heard you were Grievous's guard for awhile, when did he let you go?"

"Today." The Master Chief said. He wouldn't call it that Grievous 'let him go' he was merely on a mission to capture Tartarus.

"Who's that?" The Elite asked next, nodding towards Abigail.

"Officer Jenkins." He said. 'Zukamee chuckled. The Spartan looked at him through his emotionless visor.

"Did she beg to come _with_ you? Or did she just want to leave Grievous's ship?" He asked.

"She wanted to leave." The Master Chief replied.

"Do you like her?" 'Zukamee asked next. The Chief looked at him.

"No." He said.

"You sure? The way the carried her in your arms, the way you were extra careful and whatnot." He chuckled again and looked back at the Chief, who was looking forward now. The Spartan looked at the dark-haired girl, the way she suddenly burst into his life, expecting friendship, he wasn't sure what fantasy land she came from, but from what he learned, the last thing the Master Chief wanted was to make friends. Changing the subject, the Elite asked. "Heard anything from Shinji? Or Alexis?" The Master Chief shook his head. 'Takimee appeared with the Senior Chief. "Is Rykov coming?" 'Zukamee asked.

"No, I've asked him to stay with the president; he's too old to fight now." Michel cut in. The Spartan and Elite looked to the Senior Chief, smiling under his helmet, as he climbed aboard and sat down, looking back at the others, just as Ray was doing. The Master Chief looked up, since 'Takimee was standing in front of him and not moving. He saw the Elite's mandibles forming a grin as he crossed his arms and looked down on the Spartan.

"You know we've missed you two." He said. He figured the moment was getting too soft and he climbed aboard. "Strap yourself in now, we're leaving." The Chief and 'Zukamee hopped in and buckled in, the Spartan was sitting opposite of Abigail, still unconscious, and couldn't help but think.

_"Do I care about her?" _He thought, despite how much he wanted to resent it. Slowly the Pelican lifted off of the ground and the Master Chief shook those thoughts away. Of course, thinking of those kind of feelings only hurt him inside, Susan's death was still so new to him, and he didn't want to be hurt again if he began to like Abigail.

"Look's like Tartarus had a squad on Earth already." 'Takimee shouted from the cockpit.

"Why, what's here?" 'Zukamee asked, loading a clip into a Carbine.

"Want a look for yourself?" The commander asked. Suddenly they all heard a colossal blast and were jerked about in their seats as 'Takimee maneuvered to dodge the monster blasts that everyone could see passing below them, thanks to the open hatch. The Pelican passed over what seemed like a behemoth, standing at almost a hundred feet and its clawed 'legs' crushing everything it stepped on. 'Zukamee and Michel were able to lean over the end and catch sight of what the Abaters called a Scarab, a beetle-like monstrosity that had several plasma turrets over it, as well as a massive cannon in the front, which could easily tear through a Pelican, and even a Longsword if it hit one. The Eva, Spartans, and Elite overheard 'Takimee calling someone on the COM channel, before landing the Pelican on an abandoned street several blocks away from the Scarab and behind many buildings to serve as shelter. 'Takimee appeared from the cockpit. "Get settled in, I've called backup so it may be an hour or so until they show up."

Michel snapped his helmet off and set it by his side, then unbuckled seatbelt just as everyone else did. Ray, Michel, 'Zukamee, and 'Takimee walked down and hopped off from the Pelican, only 'Takimee looked over his shoulder upon noticing that the Master Chief wasn't there.

"Coming Chief?" He asked. The Spartan looked at him through his visor.

"No, I think I'll try to get some rest." He said. 'Takimee nodded.

"Yes, you'll probably need it." The Elite commander said and joined the others, Michel and 'Zukamee were engaged in conversation, meanwhile Ray was checking the area to make sure no Abater forces were around. The Master Chief leaned his head back and closed his eyes, the first time in a few days he had actually gotten any rest. Yet he was still restless, he hadn't been able to get a healthy night of sleep in two months, something just kept bugging him. He opened his eyes and looked forward, at Abigail, who was still unconscious. He suddenly realized that she had a striking resemblance to Victoria Myer, one of the people who turned him into who he was, and his mother-figure when he was just learning to fight. She had similar dark hair and green eyes to Victoria, but instead of short hair she had long hair going down past her shoulder and halfway down her back, that and she just plain looked younger.

Suddenly he felt his heart skip a beat as her eyes opened as crack. She opened her eyes wider and rubbed them to wake herself up more. Abigail looked at her new surroundings, finding that she was in a Pelican, but when she looked forward she became nervous as well, seeing the Master Chief looking back at her. Quickly the Spartan looked away and out towards the others. Though she didn't know where she was, the only thing she could muster to say was.

"H-hey." Her cheeks turned red and she couldn't help but smile, thinking, hoping, that the Chief was actually watching her sleep. The Master Chief looked back at her again, then nodded.

"Hey." He said. There was a long silence, the Chief's face under his helmet was red, he couldn't help it, he hated this awkward feeling as well. For some reason, he didn't mind it when there was a silence among other people, or even with the silence between them earlier, but he felt stupid with the silence between him and Abigail.

"Where are we?" Abigail asked, clasping her hands together on her lap. The Master Chief shrugged.

"We're waiting for reinforcements." He said. Abigail nodded and looked out the back hatch, spotting Eva-00, 'Zukamee, Michel, and 'Takimee. "Do you do that often?" The Spartan asked.

"D-do what?" The dark-haired girl asked.

"Faint." The Chief replied. Abigail's blush deepened.

"I um…I guess it was the landing." She lied. "I was never very good with moving things, I get car sick easily." She laughed nervously, the Master Chief forced a nervous chuckle as well. The laughter died quite quickly and another awkward silence came over them. To end his embarrassment, the Master Chief stood up and nodded.

"Officer." He said and hopped out of the Pelican.

"Sv…I mean, Chief?" The dark-haired girl asked. The Master Chief turned around and tilted his head to the side.

"Yes?" He asked. Abigail blushed again as she smiled kindly.

"Ca…call me Abigail, please." She said nervously. The Master Chief hesitated, then nodded.

"Okay…Abigail." He smiled under his helmet and turned back around, then walked over to 'Takimee, 'Zukamee, and the Senior Chief. Abigail began to space off as she stared at the Spartan, a faint smile on her face.

_"Maybe…maybe my birthday will be a happy one…" _


	8. The Scarab

**Yes, I realize I did a crappy job of updated this so late (And yes, I feel ashamed for letting MCvGGII slip) but maybe you'll like another chapter here.  
**

**Chapter 7**

After an hour of waiting around, hearing the terrifying sound of the Scarab's cannon destroying buildings in the distance, a Pelican and a Phantom appeared from around a building. The Pelican was carrying a massive tank, a Scorpion Tank as it was called, a brownish-green tank with a powerful cannon and machine-guns attached next to the cannon. Michel snapped his helmet back on as the two ships landed before them, Abigail was now standing among the Eva, Elites, and Spartans. The Pelican dropped the tank and dispatched its Marines before taking off once more, and the Phantom released their Elites and Grunts before taking off as well.

"Time to blast some Abater asses!" A rough voice shouted out. 'Takimee smiled.

"Johnson." He muttered. Of course, it was Sergeant Johnson, who was standing on the tank, and hopped off to join his men as they walked toward the small squad.

"Where's your platoon?" He asked as he stepped in front of his team of six Marines.

"You're looking at it Sergeant." 'Takimee said.

"What's the situation?" A gold-armored Elite, a general by the name of Faro 'Fortamee, asked as he stepped ahead of his men, a group of two blue-armored Elites, privates, and seven Grunts, two of them in red armor and the others in orange.

"A Scarab, General." 'Takimee replied. 'Fortamee cocked his head and made an 'mmm…' sound, thinking of what to say.

"What do you think our men can do to that thing?" He asked as he crossed his arms.

"We've ran the simulations General." Johnson said as he stuck an unlit cigar into his mouth. "They're tough but they're _not_ invincible." He pointed to the Scorpion Tank with his thumb. "That's why we brought this." His voice muffled by the cigar, yet it was still rough and demanding. He turned to 'Takimee's team. "That's 80 tons of pure Abater ass-kickin' machine right there. I had a feeling those bastards would be bringing in something tough." He looked at the Master Chief. "Now, the Chief here is going to jump inside that thing, and blow up any unhuman-son of a bitch that stands in his way."

"Ahem." 'Takimee faked a cough.

"You know what I mean." Johnson said.

"A Scarab?" A Marine behind Sarge asked. "We need to get the hell outta here or else we'll be fried!" Johnson turned, slapped his hand on the Marine's shoulder, and said.

"Buck up Marine, 'cause you're going with him." He barked.

"The Scarab will no doubt see and destroy the tank before we have a chance to get a good aim or even shoot _at_ it." 'Fortamee sighed. Johnson smiled at the gold-armored Elite.

"Well somebody's being a Negative Nancy today." He said before turning to the Master Chief. "Ready Chief?" The Spartan nodded.

"Yes sir." He said and jumped up onto the tank, but before he climbed inside of the cockpit, 'Fortamee spoke.

"Sergeant, with all do respect, I highly doubt your plan of action. Besides, you haven't told us what you plan on doing about the Scarab to make sure it doesn't destroy the Scorpion.

"You like being a decoy?" Johnson asked with a grin as he nodded towards the Pelican.

"How dare you speak to me like that?" 'Fortamee snarled. "I am a superior officer, and I shall not fly around in a sitting duck while something I highly doubt can destroy something like a Scarab is rolling around with my men."

"Alright." Johnson sighed. "You like being a decoy, _Sir_?" 'Fortamee lowered his head and looked eye-to-eye with the Sergeant, both glaring fiercely into each other's eyes. "Or…you could hitch a ride with the Chief." Without a word spoken, the Elite general grunted and walked toward the Pelican.

"Eva-00, accompany me and the general with your sniper rifle, you can catch the Scarab's attention with it. Maybe even take out one of its turrets." 'Takimee said. Ray, without a word spoken, nodded and followed the commander. "You know what you're doing right Sarge?" The spec ops commander asked as he walked away.

"You know it Commander." Johnson said and waved to 'Takimee, before turning to the others. "Alright!" He barked, catching everyone's attention quickly. "Chief, you in that tank yet?" He called out.

"Yes sir." The Master Chief called back and hopped into the cockpit, a protective covering came over him, giving him sight of everything in front of him, to his left, and a little sight to his right. The Pelican began to hover off of the ground; Ray was sitting on the edge with her sniper rifle posed.

"Alright ladies!" Johnson cried out, then noticing Abigail, who was nervous about the situation. "And…you of course." He muttered then turned back to the others. "Garrison, you got my Assault Rifle?" He asked. The Marine, Private Garrison, shook his head nervously. "Lee, you got the Assault Rifle you knew Garrison would forget?" Johnson asked.

"Yes sir." Private First Class Jackson Lee said and handed Johnson the other Assault Rifle he was carrying.

"Good work. Now then, you." He looked at Abigail. "You don't seem like you can run in that fancy dress you got there, you get to be the lucky one to hitch a ride with the Chief, making you a sitting duck to any and all enemy forces around. You're one lucky girl." He looked to the Senior Chief. "Senior Chief, you along with Garrison scout ahead of the tank, signal us whenever you spot the Scarab or any enemy forces, understood?" Michel nodded.

"Yes sir." He said.

"Alright, the rest of you, stick together and watch each other's backs. Let's move!" He shouted as the Pelican flew over them and around a building.

"Sir, t-the Scarab, a Scorpion can't take one of those down." Garrison whimpered as the Senior Chief walked past him with a Battle Rifle in hand.

"Boy, when I joined the Core, we didn't have any fancy-spancy tank, we had sticks, _two_ sticks and a rock, and we had to _share_ the rock with our entire squad. You had the chance to be scared before you joined my beloved Core, so get your ass up there and scout ahead damn it." Johnson snapped. Garrison swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and jogged ahead to joined the Senior Chief. "Kids." The Sergeant muttered as he walked beside the Master Chief's side of the tank when it began to roll along, Grunts, Elites, and Marines surrounding them and scanning every inch of concrete that wasn't lit by the street lights overhead.

"You're good at lying." The Master Chief said. Johnson laughed and pulled off his Sergeant's cap, brushed his gloved fingers over his shaved head, and put it back on.

"Sometimes ya just gotta lie in order to encourage my men." He said and looked over to the Spartan. "Who's the girl anyway?" He asked.

"Officer Jenkins." The Master Chief replied.

"Officer huh?" Sarge asked.

"Well…I'm actually more of an inspector." Abigail added softly.

"Your dad Colonel Jenkins?" Johnson asked. Abigail nodded. "He's a determined man you know."

"I know." Abigail replied, slightly louder than before.

"Where's your gun?" The Sergeant asked. Abigail suddenly realized, she must've dropped it when she fainted and it's still at the gallery.

"Don't worry Sarge; I have another one for her." The Master Chief said, referring to the two SMGs he brought.

* * *

Standing atop one of the buildings overlooking Moscow and the Scarab at work, Tartarus crossed his arms. His hammer in the arms of a Brute assistant standing behind him.

"Chieftain." An Abater said in his low voice as he walked toward the Brute, two more dinosaur-like beings behind him. A Major in the Abater army, this being had two fangs extending farther than the others and going down to his chin, one of them was chipped off, because of this, everyone called him Tusk. "We're flattered to have you here." He said with mock seriousness. "But can I ask you just what you're going here?"

"Evasion Major." Tartarus replied as he turned to face the Abater. "Grievous captured me and upon my escape, he has sent a human, the Master Chief as a matter of fact, to come and recapture me." Tusk grunted.

"Heh, plan on using _my_ Scarab and _my_ men to evade for your own gain?" He spat out a thick wade of guck to the ground. "Take one for the team for once will you?" Major Tusk grunted in disgust again before turning around and his men following behind him once more, leaving Tartarus to be on his own with his assistant. It was quite obvious that the Abaters despised the Brutes, with them being favored over them by the Prophets, and almost every Abater, even the elders, like Chancellor Grimm, hated Tartarus the most. Of course, Tartarus didn't seem to mind, he thought of himself better than all Abater forces, the monsters like the Gravediggers and Diamondheads were mere monsters, nothing more than mutts meant for war, the Jackals were too weak to fight him, that's why they carried their shields, Drones were brainless creatures that wouldn't dare challenge him even if they did have brains. The only beings he respected were Prophets, and the Abaters he hated most.

Something caught his eye and he turned toward it. It was small and difficult to see, a mere bug as it seemed flying toward the Scarab. He held his hand out to the other Brute. Knowing what to give him, the Brute dropped a high-tech type of binoculars into the chieftain's hand, who put it up to his eyes and zoomed in on the object. What he saw angered him.

"So they think they can take a Scarab huh? Ha, ha, ha, ha! Let's see how long they can go." He looked to the Brute and smiled sinisterly.

* * *

It wasn't long before the Scarab noticed the Pelican and fired from its cannon. The greenish-blue plasma blast looked as if it could easily engulf dropship like a Pelican. 'Takimee steered the ship to the left sharply, and that's when the plasma turrets came to life, all firing simultaneously at the Pelican with different colors of plasma flying at it. Green, blue, orange, and red showered from the turrets at their enemy but the spec ops commander used his wits and piloting skill to outmaneuver and dodge every shot that was thrown at them.

"How long must we keep this up?" 'Fortamee asked. "When will the others be here?"

"They shouldn't be too far now, maybe a block or two away." 'Takimee replied. From the back in the cargo seating, they heard the boom of Ray's sniper rifle as she tried but to no avail take out any turrets she could. Unfortunately, the sniper rifle, while still deadly enough to pierce a Spartan or Eva's shield and kill them instantly, was unable to fully destroy any of the turrets bellow.

"You know Commander every second counts in a time like this." 'Fortamee grumbled. 'Takimee didn't reply as he heard another massive blast behind them.

"Ray, which direction?" 'Takimee called out.

"Left, go left." Ray answered, having a front, and frightening, seat as the green blast zipped towards them. Jerking its passenger's around even more, the Pelican dashed to the left and dodged the blast successfully again.

"Commander, I think I've figured out the Scarab's cannon." 'Fortamee said.

"How?" 'Takimee asked as he flew under the Scarab in order to confuse the giant machine and fly around it again.

"I believe it takes one full minute for its cannon to charge." He stroked a clawed finger along his lower mandibles and activated the COM channel in his helmet. "Sergeant, are you there?"

_"How ya doing big guy?" _Johnson said.

"The Scarab takes a full minute to recharge its cannon, if you could get your timing right, perhaps the Master Chief could get a clear and safe shot at it." 'Fortamee said.

_"Don't worry, we've got it in our sights, the Chief's ready to blow its ass up in 3-2-1, NOW!" _Johnson cried.

"Sergeant NO!!" 'Fortamee shouted. Ray looked down and saw the Scorpion Tank fire from its cannon up at the Scarab. Fire wrapped around it and nothing but a massive smoke cloud could be seen around it. However, as the minute was reaching its limit, the cannon on the machine glowed bright green through the smoke. Meanwhile on the ground, everyone standing beside the tank stared up at what appeared to be their doom.

"Hey uh…Chief, how long does it take to fire another round?" Johnson asked.

"About ten seconds." The Spartan replied as he opened the cockpit and jumped out. "Get everyone out of here Sarge." He ordered.

"Fall back!" Johnson cried out as he waited for his men to sprint away. Grunts waddling madly away, screaming in horror of death coming, the two blue-armored Elites tried their best not to show fear, but if you were to look into their yellow eyes, it was easy to tell they were praying for honor from their forefathers, and Marines ran as well, some were screaming, others were hiding their fear. The Senior Chief was running as well, only he stopped behind an abandoned car not too far from the tank and was ready to fight. The Master Chief looked to his right and saw Abigail, standing up beside him.

"Get out of here." He ordered.

"I refuse to leave you here." She said. Without another word, the Master Chief looked up at the Scarab, knew it was time to go, snatched Abigail, and hopped off of the tank, running away and into one of the abandoned buildings nearby. The Scarab, oblivious to what seemed like ants running away from it, fired at the Scorpion, sending the tank reeling down the streets, cracking and breaking the concrete it slid roughly along. Johnson turned around and saw the tank flying towards them.

"Jump men, jump!" The Sergeant ordered and dove to the sidewalk, just before the reeling tank could crush him. Marines, Grunts, and Elites all dove out of the tank's path, however, a few unfortunate Marines and Grunts were caught it the tanks path as it finally skidded to a halt two blocks away from the place it was hit.

"God dang!" A Marine shouted as he got to his feet.

"Dang? Don't they teach you kids to swear anymore?" Johnson asked. He turned to the closest Marine to him. "How many did we loose?" He asked. The Marine turned and counted who all were there, then turned back to Johnson.

"Two Marines and four Grunts sir." He said.

"Damn." Johnson muttered as he turned toward the impact site. "Hey, Chiefs, you there?" He asked. Michel appeared from behind the car he hid behind, now ruined from the explosion.

"Here." He said.

"What about the Master Chief, or the girl?" Johnson asked.

"I don't know where they are, they jumped away the tank before the blast." Michel replied as he ran up to the sergeant.

"Sarge, why isn't the Scarab firing anymore?" A Marine asked. Johnson looked up, and saw the Scarab occupied with the Pelican, waiting for its cannon to recharge and attempt to fire at it.

"Alright, the thing's busy with the dropship, hurry men, let's go find the others." Johnson ordered.

**Well, that chapter's that. Hope you liked it. If you've played Halo2 you can probably easily tell which parts originated from it. But hey, one of the reasons why I wrote this story was to see stuff people have already seen and love and combine them with another universe's materials. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review.**


	9. Uneasy

**Chapter 8**

_Underneath Moscow_

The Master Chief grunted as he got to his knees. He looked around, it was dark, little light shined through from the light poles outside from the various cracks in the concrete. The Spartan looked up, the floor he and Abigail were standing on at the time of the blast collapsed and they fell to the lower level. Now there was nothing but chunks of concrete and brick on the ground, and that's when he thought, Abigail! She was lying on her back with her eyes closed on the ground, her white uniform was covered in dirt and dust now, and was torn at several places, a few cuts were on her arms and one across her cheek. From what he could tell, she hopefully hadn't broken anything.

The Spartan stumbled toward her and dropped to his knees beside her, raising her head up and checking her pulse. He sighed with relief when he found her to be alive. He shook her gently.

"Abigail…?" He asked softly. The girl's eyes opened slightly and once she saw him, she couldn't help but smile.

"Hey." She said weakly. She sat up and the Master Chief released her, now standing on one knee beside her. Abigail brought her knees up to her chest and looked up at the Chief. "What happened?" She asked.

"The floor collapsed." The Master Chief answered. "After the Scarab blast." Abigail nodded. The Spartan stood up and looked around the room, he couldn't see any exit or way to get out, they were trapped. Of course, they could always climb up one of the jagged walls, but then came the challenge of breaking through a wall made of concrete once they came up to the normal level.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Abigail asked. The Master Chief walked around the room, looking around, but the cracks in the walls were far too small for anyone to climb through, he was going to conserve the very little ammo he had for his SMG's until he absolutely needed it. He turned to Abigail once he heard her sigh. She was rubbing her hands on her cut arms to keep warm, then she wrapped her arms around her knees so she formed a little ball. "It's so…cold." Her voice muffled over her knees as she closed her eyes. The Master Chief couldn't tell if it was cold or not since his armor was about 75 degrees Fahrenheit at all times inside.

He walked toward her, dropped to a knee, and since Abigail's eyes were closed, she had no idea what he was doing. Her eyes shot open when the Spartan wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Does this help any?" He asked. He had learned from the skills he gained while in suspended animation that huddling close together in the cold produced heat. The last thing running through his childlike mind was holding her just to hold her. A faint smile crept up on Abigail's face as her cheeks blushed and she felt a few hot tears coming up. She nodded.

"Yes, yes it does." The dark-haired girl said as she wrapped her arms around the Chief and dug her face into his chest plate. She didn't feel cold anymore, or hot, she couldn't feel anything, just a great feeling of being loved and in love. She positioned herself so she sat on her knees, and so the Chief's warmth embrace turned to a loving embrace. Abigail took in a deep breath, then sighed with happiness. At first the Master Chief didn't exactly know what she was doing, or what she was thinking, but now he had an idea, but he still wasn't sure whether her saying she was cold was truth or just a way for him to wrap his arms around her.

This reminded him so much of when he was enjoying Susan's embraces. Like a dagger through his heart, grief overcame him and his head lowered, yet he fought to keep his tears back. Abigail looked up at his visor, smiling, and the Chief noticed the tears running down her cheeks.

"S-something wrong?" He asked. Abigail shook her head, getting several strands of her dark hair in her face. The Spartan hesitated, but slowly pulled hand up and brushed those hairs away. Abigail's face turned redder and buried her face in the Master Chief's chest again. "You blush a lot." The Spartan said softly. Abigail laughed out loud.

"Yeah…I-I know." She said. There was a long silence, as the Chief was merely trying to keep her warm, Abigail was enjoying every moment of their embrace, even nestling her head up against his chest plate, despite its cold, hard surface. "Hey uh…Chief?" The dark-haired girl asked softly.

"Yes?" The Master Chief asked, coming over his little grief moment.

"Can…can I call you…Sven?" She asked. The Master Chief's heart skipped a beat; no one like her had called him that in so long, not since he began to hide from the world in his armor, not since…she passed away. He hesitated, tightened his embrace on her, and nodded slowly.

"Yes you can." He said softly, just loud enough for her to hear him. Under his armor, he could just barely feel Abigail tighten her grip on him as well, accompanied by a joyful laugh.

"Sven…?" She whispered.

"Yes?" The Master Chief asked. Abigail paused, was about to confess her feelings, then said.

"N-never mind." The dark-haired girl sighed; she just couldn't gather the courage to tell him her feelings for him.

* * *

"Chief?! Chief?!" Johnson shouted as he and his men looked around the block, now torn and ruined from the Scarab's cannon. 

"Sir." Two Marines appeared from around the corner of a building. "An enemy Phantom is approaching." One of them said.

"Damn it." Johnson sighed. He felt like he failed that day, not only was he and his men unable to destroy the Scarab, but they lost one of their best, plus the innocent Officer was lost. He turned to the others. "Alright men, run like hell, I'll contact the dropship once we're out of the Scarab's sight, now move!"

"Sir, it appears the enemy is falling back." An Abater piloting the Phantom said back to Tartarus, who was hovering over his shoulder and looking out onto the deserted city. The Brute chuckled.

"Excellent, our victory has been made. Inform Major Tusk about it immediately." Tartarus said, somewhat disappointed that he brought a Phantom-full of some of his Brutes to fight the pests he called humans, only to have them run away.

"Wait sir, there appears to be two more signals of life, inside one of the buildings." The pilot reported. Tartarus chuckled louder and turned back to the front of the ship.

"Even better, I'll dispatch of them myself; I'll contact you once I have finished them." He said.

"Yes sir." The Abater said.

While the Pelican landed safely behind a building to pick up its troops, 'Takimee looked over his shoulder.

"Where's the Master Chief, or the Officer?" He asked.

"Missing." Johnson sighed as he took his seat.

"What? Why didn't you look for them?" 'Takimee asked.

"We did, enemy ship was coming." A Grunt answered. 'Takimee looked forward with a sigh as the men took their seats and he lifted the Pelican up into the air.

"We'll send a search team in later." He muttered.

"What about the cold?" 'Fortamee asked. "How long can they survive?"

"I wouldn't worry about the Chief on that, it's the girl I would be worrying about." 'Takimee replied and flew the dropship away. As they were leaving, the Phantom was just landing underneath the Scarab, now continuing to walk about Moscow, and let out Tartarus, who held his hammer in both hands. The Brute laughed.

"Alright humans, time to die." He said and walked toward the building with its entrances blocked by concrete and debris.

Abigail's teeth began to chatter from the coldness wrapping around her. The Master Chief tightened his embrace on her, hoping it might help, then he heard a grunt from outside. Becoming alert instantly, he looked up.

"Did you hear that?" He whispered.

"No, what was it?" Abigail asked as the Chief let go of her, pulled out both SMG's, and looked around carefully. "What is…?" Abigail asked as she was about to stand up, but something behind one of the cracks in the wall made the Spartan realize someone was there. He turned to her.

"Get down!" He ordered. The wall exploded and Tartarus leaped to the ground. He looked up, and a smile widened on his face.

"So we have met once again eh Chief?" He asked with mock seriousness. The Master Chief turned to him and aimed both SMG's at the Brute. "Heh, heh, heh, I see you have another female with you this time, how shall I kill _her_ do you think?" He chuckled. Without a reply the Master Chief opened fire, but the bullets merely punched Tartarus without actually tearing his hide. The Brute aimed the head of his hammer, and a sonic boom echoed throughout the room as the hammer unleashed a powerful shockwave that sent the Spartan off his feet and onto his back.

"Sven!" Abigail shouted out as she ran to the Chief's side and kneeled beside him.

"Hmm…Sven huh? I figured you real name wasn't Master Chief." Tartarus said. He aimed the end of his hammer towards Abigail this time, and instead of firing Abigail into a wall, it was used as a magnet and sucked Abigail straight towards him, just as he was able to catch her in his arm. The Master Chief struggled to his feet, his SMG's were out of his hands by now, but he was still willing to fight.

"Put her down Tartarus, this is between you and me." He growled.

"Quite noble of you Human," Tartarus retorted. "But alas, this isn't between just you and me, this is between me and your race." He looked at Abigail, a smirk of satisfaction upon his face. "Heh, heh, heh, what's her name Chief?" He asked. "I'd like to know the name of the person I killed next." Again a chuckle escaped his lipless mouth. "She doesn't seem of much importance as the Princess. Does she even matter?" The Master Chief's hands tightened in rage. Tartarus chuckled again. "Just like last time, huh Chief?"

Not letting Tartarus get Abigail, the Master Chief sprinted at the Brute, fists ready.

"Fool!" Tartarus boomed as he tossed Abigail to the ground and readied his hammer. He swung the hammer up, then crashed it down towards the Spartan as he came closer. The Master Chief brought of both hands in an attempt to stop the hammer, which caused an explosion when it struck his hands. The Master Chief was sent reeling through the debris and struck a wall hard, knocking out his shields. The Brute picked up Abigail again once she tried to crawl away, and flung her over his shoulder, despite her kicking and thrashing and screaming.

The Master Chief pinned himself up against the wall and pushed himself up, in order to get back to his feet. He began to walk towards the Brute, too weak to run anymore.

"You're quite determined Human, I might just let her live." He chuckled. "But she'll be coming with me." Through the pain in his body, the Master Chief continued a little faster toward Tartarus. "You may have your precious girl back, if you can catch me." Tartarus laughed as he turned and hurried back out of the hole he created.

"Damn it…" Sven muttered as he dropped to his knees. He growled and slammed his fist into the ground. "Damn it!" He cried. He looked up and through the pain, got to his feet and, with a limp in his leg, hurried toward the gapping hole in the wall, climbed up the rugged wall to it, and crawled out. Struggling to his feet, the Master Chief witnessed as the Scarab, while scanning the city, used a gravity lift to carry Tartarus and Abigail up into its open hatch and consume them inside of it, where Abater forces were no doubt controlling the behemoth.

* * *

Holding Abigail's shoulder and pushing her in front of him, Tartarus made his way for the control room. Several Abater personnel were about, no signs of Brutes however. All of them were giving fierce glares to both Tartarus and Abigail, however some did snap at the girl with their powerful jaws.

"No, she is mine." Tartarus grumbled to them whenever they tried to attack. As the two entered the control room, Tartarus was slightly surprised to find Major Tusk there; obviously he came while the Brute was busy with the Spartan, watching as the Scarab fired another blast before turning towards the human and Brute.

"Tartarus, what is that human doing here?" He asked. He looked over to an engineer Abater fiddling with some wires and spoke to him, in their native language, which was a series of grunts, gurgles and growls, then the Abater engineer turned to Abigail fiercely with a snarl and his sharp claws ready to tear at her flesh. Teasing, Tartarus held Abigail's shoulder tightly and waved her back and forth in front of the Abaters.

"Ha, ha, ha, you want her, come get her!" He boomed. The Abater roared and pounced. Abigail covered her face and screamed as she waited for death to claim her, however it never came, when she opened her eyes, she saw Tartarus holding the Abater back with the butt of his hammer poking into his chest, not painfully, just enough for him to get the idea. "No, I plan on showing her to the Noble Hierarchs; they will tell me what to do with her." He chuckled. "Who knows, your friend here might just get to taste her flesh Major."

"Where's the Spartan's head? I thought you promised the Abater army his helmet as a way for you to keep your position." Tusk said.

"In due time Major, I just need to…"

"In due time?" Tusk snapped. "That's exactly what you said to the Hierarchs when they asked for a victory. Where is it Chieftain? I don't see one; all I see is a pathetic Brute with a thing for human girls!" The Abater roared. Tartarus boomed out, tossed Abigail with tremendous force into a wall and held his hammer with both hands.

"Well this pathetic Brute shall have your head!" The Brute chieftain snapped. From the gauntlets on both of Tusk's wrists, a glowing, plasma blade extending, each about foot and a half long.

"I'll slice that stupid Mohawk from your head once I cut _that_ off your neck!" Tusk bellowed.

"Sir, the Spartan's still alive!" The Abater piloting the Scarab cried out as he looked over his shoulder to the others. Abigail, struggling for breath since she was sure that most of her ribs were cracked, sat up and curled up in a tight ball, praying for someone to help her. Tusk and Tartarus looked to the pilot, then Tusk glared at the Brute.

"You didn't kill him?" He asked.

"I thought I told you that." Tartarus growled. Tusk sheathed his plasma blades and ran up to the pilot, looking over his shoulder as a camera on the Scarab spotted the Master Chief hop into the Scorpion Tank a block away and begin to drive toward the machine.

"Blow that human straight to pits of fire!" Tusk ordered.

"Can't sir, we're still recharging from the blast we did to the president's building." The pilot said. Suddenly they were thrown around the room by the tank's powerful hit. Abigail fell on her face and looked up; Tartarus had stood his ground, merely shaken, while most of the Abaters were thrown around the room, with the exception of Tusk and the pilot.

"What was that?" Tusk asked.

"The Spartan hit us sir, with that tank of his." The pilot responded. "Two more hits like that…" He began, but was cut off when another hit struck them, throwing the Abaters around even more. "_One_ more hit like that sir; the Scarab will be done for."

"Evacuate everyone off the ship." Tusk ordered.

"But sir…" The pilot began.

"Do it!" Tusk snapped.

"Y-yes sir." The pilot answered and pressed a button, which set off an alarm to everyone on the ship to leave immediately. Tusk glared at Tartarus and pointed his clawed finger at him.

"You, you did this!" He bellowed. "You've destroyed my Scarab, endangered my men, and for what? You have not killed the Spartan; all you did was kidnap his little female friend. I will not loose my entire crew for your stupidity." He snapped. "Return the female, I heard humans have a good sense of empathy."

"No Major, I've done too much to do that." Tartarus growled. Tusk snarled as he stormed over to Abigail, grabbing her arm, and hoisted her to her feet.

"Come Female, you're going back to your side." Tusk muttered as he dragged along Abigail. Suddenly Tartarus aimed his hammer at the Abater.

"I cannot let you do that Major." He said. Tusk turned around and unsheathed one of his plasma wrist blades.

"Do not even try it Chieftain, you're quiet easily surrounded and outnumbered. Besides, I'm not loosing my men for you." He turned back around and led Abigail away. Tartarus snarled out as he tried to follow, but found that he was surrounded by five Abaters, most of them carrying plasma pistols.

* * *

Just as the Master Chief was about to fire the final shot from the Scorpion at the Scarab, he spotted the Scarab's gravity lift opening and an Abater and Abigail floating down. The Spartan crawled out and jumped to the street.

"Master Chief." Tusk cried out. "I will give you an offer." He said. Without replying, the Master Chief nodded. "I will return this human girl to you, in exchange, you will allow my men to flee in Phantoms, we will not attack any more of your kind while leaving, we shall be at peace until we return to our space station." The Chief nodded.

"I accept." He said. Tusk smirked.

"Glad to hear it." He said and approached the Spartan, who did the same with them. Standing a few feet away, both the Abater and Spartan felt odd, never had they been so close to their enemy without trying to kill them. The Abater released Abigail and held his hand out. The Master Chief hesitated, but grabbed his hand, and shook it firmly. "I apologize for Tartarus's inconvenience." From the gravity lift more Abaters flooded down, Tartarus was the eyesore of the group, being surrounded by the entire group as to make sure he didn't go berserk. The two's hands separated. "Thank you," He leaned forward towards the Chief and muttered. "Sometimes I wish I were on your side." In acknowledgement, the Master Chief nodded, before saluting the honorable Abater, who returned to what he thought was an unfamiliar gesture before turning toward an incoming Phantom ship, and entering it with his men. The Master Chief and Tartarus held a long cold stare before the Brute left, one that could only be met when fire meets water. As the Phantom hovered up and took off, the Master Chief couldn't help but hold a deep respect for the Abaters, even if they were the enemy. Suddenly he had arms wrapped around him and Abigail's head nestling up against his shoulder.

"I was so scared in there." She said as she took a deep, difficult breath. "Thank you Sven." She whispered. Suddenly her eyes opened, her face got red, and she jumped off of the Spartan.

"You're welcome." The Master Chief replied with a nod. Abigail smiled nervously, then looked around.

"Where are the others?" She asked.

"They probably left." The Master Chief said and turned around, contacting 'Takimee's COM channel link. "Commander."

_"Chief? Chief is that you? You're alive?" _'Takimee sounded pleased.

"Yes sir." The Chief said as he looked up at the Scarab. "And the Abaters left us a gift."

**So there's that chapter. Sorry it takes me so long to update now, maybe the summer will hold a load of promises for you. Who knows, Demogoblin or MCvGG2 might even be finished! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, like the introduction to Tusk (Who plays a larger role later) and don't forget to review.**


	10. Rest

**Chapter 10  
**

_Tokyo-03, Japan_

"So this is the infamous Spartan?" A man at his desk asked as 'Takimee led the Master Chief into a dark room. The man was Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father and headman of the Committee Building in Tokyo-02. He still wore dark glasses which concealed his eyes, and his white gloves which he clasped together. Two much older men stood present in the room as well, one of them the Master Chief recognized immediately, Dr. Winchester. Winchester turned around and smiled brightly, however he wasn't about to interrupt Gendo as he studied the Spartan. The other man was second in command of the building, Kozo Fuyutsuki, a man in his fifties with grey hair and dark eyes. "Hmm…I'm quite disappointed." Gendo muttered.

"You must understand sir; the Master Chief has brought us an Abater Scarab." 'Takimee said.

"A Scarab?" Winchester asked, astonished. "We've never been able to destroy one, let alone capture one." The aged man walked toward the Chief and took his 'son's' hand, shaking it. "How are you my old friend?" He asked. The Master Chief nodded.

"I'm good sir." He replied.

"What of the enemy, what of them?" Gendo asked next. The Master Chief looked up, as 'Takimee looked forward again.

"He made peace with them." The Elite answered.

"What?" Gendo asked. "We're at a war here; both the Committee and the Abaters will kill us for what you did." The man snapped.

"The Abater in charge made a deal with me." The Master Chief answered.

"What kind of deal?" Kozo asked, interested, meanwhile Gendo seemed disgusted.

"In return of the safety of the Officer and peace for a day, I allowed for the Abaters to flee in their Phantom back to their space station." The Master Chief reported.

"Hmm…Abaters striking deals with us? We've never seen something like that before." Kozo remarked as he stroked his chin. He looked at Gendo. "Perhaps they aren't the bloodthirsty killers we know them for." He said.

"They're still thirsty for _our_ blood." Gendo, though now his tone was restrained and in a calm manner said and stood up. "You just had them pinned in a position they couldn't escape, why couldn't you blast them?" He asked.

"Because of the Officer Sir." The Master Chief answered. "She was aboard the Scarab."

"Well I think that's enough of this for one day." Winchester said calmly, breaking up the discussion. "Chief, I'm sure you're quite tired and should get some rest." The Master Chief nodded and with 'Takimee by his side, they walked out of the room, Winchester joined them.

"You should not speak with Ikari like that." 'Takimee said.

"He was simply reporting his mission." Winchester stated, since he knew the Chief wasn't likely to reply anyway. "So, where is the Scarab now?" He asked.

"The launching bay, we've cleared everything out of there to launch bay two for it, so far it's controls are very similar to that of a Ghost, Banshee, or Phantom." 'Takimee reported. Winchester nodded as he looked forward.

"Good, good." He said. "And, of the Officer?" He asked.

"She's fine, a bit shaken up, but fine." 'Takimee answered.

"Who is she anyway? Her name I mean." Winchester asked.

"I can't remember, Chief, what was it again?" 'Takimee asked.

"Jenkins sir, Abigail Jenkins." He answered. The scientist's eyes widened and he stopped. The Elite and Spartan paused and turned around.

"Something wrong Doctor?" 'Takimee asked. Winchester forced a smile, a weak one at that.

"N-no, I'm fine, thank you." He caught up with them and continued to walk.

* * *

"What?" Victoria asked as she jumped from her desk seat. "My daughter, here? What's she doing here? I thought she was in the hospital, t-the doctor said…" She stammered.

"Okay, calm down, don't you see?" Winchester asked with a kind smile. "This could be your big reunion! You can finally see how your daughter has grown up, matured, and so on." He said.

"I don't know Doctor, I mean, I've been out of her life for some seven years, I don't even know what that can do to a teen or how much she might hate me or…"

"She would never hate you." Winchester replied. "Your children, no matter how much they deny it, love you no matter what." Victoria smiled slightly at his comment.

"You might be right Doctor, thank you."

* * *

'Takimee walked into the lounge area, which was similar to that one back at their original base, with a television in the corner, couches forming a circle around that, pool tables behind that, and a tiled area with tables, chairs, and vending machines. His team was, of course, relaxing in the couches, which seemed to suck them in and refuse to spit them out. The white-armored Elite walked up behind one of the couches and watched what was going on on the television. It was another depressing news report about the Abaters and where they hit last, this time it was in Moscow. It showed the two main anchors, Charles Hendrix, and his female associate, Jenny O'Hara.

"And now we go live with our field reporter Melissa Jones in Moscow. Melissa?" Charles began. The screen cut to Moscow, where the brown-haired, brown-eyed, and tanned reporter stood wrapped in bulky coats.

"Well Charles as you can see, the shields here have gone completely down, which you can see as the snow is falling on Moscow ground for the first time in some five years." She said. "Now behind me, you might be able to see several destroyed buildings from a recent Abater attack with a vehicle known as a Scarab."

_"And just what exactly is a Scarab Melissa?" _Jenny asked.

"Well Jenny we have a sketch of one right now that our team's sketch artist did for us while mapping out the destruction." She pulled up a damp piece of paper, which had the sketch of a Scarab towering over buildings, crushing cars and houses with its massive clawed legs. "As you can see here, this Scarab has done tremendous damage to Moscow, but thankfully our troops were able to successfully go in and seize control of it, killing numerous Abater forces heroically while doing so. It is now under studying at an unknown location at this time." Melissa said. 'Takimee crossed his arms and his eyes narrowed.

"They have the story all wrong." He muttered. "I realize they want to keep the Committee under wraps, but they're treating us like damn ghosts."

"Eh, what are ya gonna do?" 'Kakomee replied as he reclined in his seat, then moaned out in joy. In his hand he held a can that shimmered with an emerald color and had red and white letters across it spelling out _Mountain-Dew_, which he pulled up and snapped open the top of it with a bubbly hiss. Then he resumed chugging the whole thing down with loud glugs, which made those around him sick.

"Is that really necessary?" 'Takimee asked as he shot a stare at 'Kakomee. "That stuff will make you sterile." 'Kakomee pulled the can away from his mouth and concealed his mouth with his mandibles, before looking up to his commander.

"Like I'll ever have kids." He chuckled and continued to drink from the _Dew_. 'Takimee's eyes narrowed.

_"Where's the honor now? He's acting just like a human." _He thought to himself.

"How long are we staying Commander?" 'Jargomee asked.

"Not long, so enjoy your stay." 'Takimee answered. Moans came from 'Jargomee, 'Kakomee, and Galvin, while Ray, 'Zukamee, and 'Verimee remained silent.

"How long is not long?" 'Kakomee asked.

"I'll think about it." 'Takimee replied with a grin as he turned around and walked back out of the room. As the Elite passed by Committee personnel, he stopped when he spotted the Chief in the mess hall, his head down and his arms serving as a headrest. He walked in. "Chief?" He asked. The Master Chief sat up, and nodded at the commander. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"This place doesn't have cabins." The Chief replied.

"Ah, so where do you plan on going to?" 'Takimee asked.

"I'll probably go back up to Grievous's ship and…" The Master Chief began.

"No offence Chief, Grievous is a good leader no doubt, but we need you here, the Scarab capture is possibly one of our best victories in some time, nonetheless the Evas are still capable of delivering victories, it would just be nice to have you down with us again." 'Takimee said.

"What about Michel?" The Spartan asked.

"Yes, well, as I am told recently, Michel is going to go through a transfer, for some reason the Committee is ordering all Spartans to be turned into Evas." He stroked his lower mandibles. "For some reason, they didn't order you to however."

"Suit malfunctions?" The Chief asked as he stood up.

"Kingsley refuses to say, however I am suspicious of the Committee's intentions lately. They're becoming more mysterious by the day, hiding things to even us and Winchester. Winchester is a highly respected figure on their council you know." The Elite said.

"Yes." The Chief said with a nod. "So, why do they not want me converted to an Eva?" He asked.

"I don't know," 'Takimee replied. "Like I said, we're in the dark about a lot the Committee is planning and carrying out. Perhaps since you were under Grievous's guidance, they forgot about you as another human being, they despise Grievous with a passion you know."

"Yes, Grievous thought Officer Jenkins was sent by the Committee to shut him down." The Chief said.

"I wouldn't blame him. He's a great strategic planner, possibly the best we have, but the Committee hates him for reasons no one knows." The Elite said.

"Commander?" The Chief asked.

"Yes Master Chief?" 'Takimee replied.

"The Covenant, what was it like before the others broke away?" He asked. 'Takimee thought for a moment.

"I'm somewhat glad you asked. You see, the Covenant was originally a holy binding of several races in which we were heading for the Great Journey." He said. "The Great Journey brought us to Earth, where we spoke with your leaders, around the time the Abaters began to attack your planet, back then it was just the Abaters and their monsters, but soon, the Prophets, who were our leaders, began to take their side, replacing their Elite guardians with Brutes…"

_Ten Years Earlier_

_Tura 'Takimee, ten years before, was a much younger Elite, not a commander, but an officer in spec ops, and he wore black armor. Spec ops Elites were known widely for their suicidal tendencies which got them into the job in the first place, but Officer 'Takimee had been learning from his Commander, known simply as Half Jaw, since both of his left mandibles were missing, and how deeply he cared about his men. For some reason, his missing mandibles did not affect his speaking. They were being escorted via a Phantom to meet with the President of the United States of America, and protect him from an incoming Abater attack. Tartarus, his Brutes, and the three High Prophets, Truth, Regret, and Mercy, were also to be there. As the six black-armored Elites prepped their gear, and the five Grunts also prepared themselves, Half Jaw walked around the room, giving the Covenant Holy speech.._

_"When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath." He said._

_**"**__According to our station! All without exception!" All of the soldiers cried at once.  
_

"_On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant!" Half Jaw went on. _

"_Even to our dying breath!" Everyone cried.  
_

"_Those who would break this oath are heretics! Worthy of neither pity nor mercy!" The commander cried back.  
_

"_We shall grind them into dust! Wipe them as excrement from our boots!" The others shouted.  
_

"_And continue our march to glorious salvation!" Half Jaw finished. His troops all shouted, filled with determination and honor. 'Takimee loaded a clip into his Carbine and looked up, seeing the mangled face of Half Jaw just a foot away from his. _

"_Commander." He said with a nod of respect. _

_"'Takimee, I want you to take right hand man this time." Half Jaw said. _

_"I do not know sir, am I honorable enough to do that?" 'Takimee asked. _

_"My friend, I have watched you grow up an honorable Elite, from when you were just learning to use that Carbine you hold to the moment you breathe as we speak. If anything should happen to go wrong and I am unable to go on, you will continue to lead, no matter what Tartarus says." Half Jaw said. 'Takimee, unable to speak, cleared his throat and nodded. Half Jaw turned to the others. "Get ready men, we are leaving!" The hatch of the Phantom opened and everyone jumped out, Half Jaw and 'Takimee were last to ensure everyone got out quickly and safely. _

_With a flick of his wrist, Half Jaw ignited a plasma sword and ran alongside 'Takimee as the others set a perimeter around the massive White House, the home of the president. Running inside, the commander turned off his weapon and 'Takimee lowered his Carbine. They walked through the lavish and historical White House, their boots walking along red carpet as they finally passed two security guards into the Oval Office. Inside, the president, whose brown hair was getting a few grey strands in it, was busy writing something. Quickly his wife and son stood up when the two Elites walked in. The president looked up. _

_"Good day Gentlemen." He said in a raspy voice as he stood up. _

_"Good day Mr. President." Half Jaw replied with a nod. "My men are ready to escort you and your family as soon as you're ready." _

_"Commander." A low voice boomed. Everyone turned to the doorway as the Brute chieftain had to duck his head in order to get into the room._

_"Chieftain, we've got it from it from here." Half Jaw replied. Tartarus chuckled, something that sent shivers down 'Takimee's spine. "The President and his family are our responsibility."_

_"Was your responsibility." Tartarus sneered as he pulled up a Brute Grenade Launcher. "Come Mr. President, the Prophets would like to speak with you." The president and his family walked toward the Brute. Something caught 'Takimee's eyes and he looked outside, there, above them all, was an Abater ship, not only that, but several Abaters were speaking with three Prophets. He nudged Half Jaw and pointed to the window, however the commander refused to look._

_"When I am set to a job, I do it. Chieftain, you have enough jobs to carry out at the moment. Please Mr. President, it would be unwise to go with a Brute who is wanted by several Abaters and has a high profile." Half Jaw said. _

_"Well then," The president said and chuckled. "Who do I go with then?" He laughed in an attempt to break the uneasiness between the Elite and Brute._

_"Do not listen to these Heretics!" Tartarus boomed._

_"Heretics?! How dare you…" Half Jaw snapped. _

_"The Prophets have ordered me to take the President." Tartarus growled. _

_"Now, now, gentlemen, I'm sure if you would calm down, this would…" The president began._

_"Commander!" 'Takimee cried out. Half Jaw finally looked out the window to witness Abater ships firing plasma blasts at government buildings, and even one of his men be killed by one of the Abaters on ground. He realized what was happening, and he knew the Prophets only wanted the Brute to bring the President so their new allies could kill him._

_"Tartarus…" He said sadly as he turned to the Brute. "The Prophets betrayed us…" He pointed out the window at the chaos going on. Tartarus walked up to the window, and, choosing not to believe it, turned to the others and fired his Brute Grenade Launcher. 'Takimee dove for the President's family and got them down and the Oval Office was engulfed in smoke. _

_"No Commander, the Great Journey has begun, and the Brutes, not the Elites, shall be the Prophets escort!" Tartarus exclaimed as he rushed out of the room. _

_"Are you alright Mr. President?" 'Takimee asked as he helped the near royal family to their feet._

_"Yeah, I think we're alright." The president replied. 'Takimee turned around and his nightmare became reality. Half Jaw was lying on the floor. The spec ops Elite ran to his leader's side and fell to his knees beside him._

_"Sir?" He asked. _

_"'Takimee, get them out of here." Half Jaw said weakly, his chest burnt from the blast so badly that it caused a deadly wound, his purple blood was all over him. "Y-you're the leader now." He sighed. "Lead the Spartans…and Evas…with honor…like how you lead your…comrades…" The Elite's dark eyes slowly closed and the Commander was gone. The windows blasted open and the open hatch of their Phantom opened. Two Grunts and three Elites survived and were inside the Phantom._

_"Need a lift Mr. President?" One of them asked. Suddenly they became silent when they saw 'Takimee over Half Jaw's body, knowing what happened. All of them hopped out as one Elite and the two Grunts helped to get their dead leader's body inside, while the other two Elites helped the president's family inside. _

"One of the Elites who died that day was 'Zukamee's father." 'Takimee said. "Half Jaw was a great commander, the best I've ever seen." He sighed and looked down. The Master Chief set his hand on the Elite's shoulder.

"You're a Half Jaw to me." He replied.


	11. Division

**Chapter 11**

_Ship: __Minotaur_

"Are you sure about this?" Fred asked Grievous as the two of them were escorted from Grievous's ship into Colonel Jenkins's ship, the _Minotaur_, named after the Greek monster of the same name, via a connection tube. Fred held a black fedora hat with him, which he often wore when off duty or just wanting to conceal his eyes.

"Not really, no." Grievous replied. "He is a puppet to the Committee, sure, but I believe he and I could exchange several new battle tactics and perhaps even celebrate for the victory we had." The two women escorting them were silent, they seemed like androids.

"You seem somewhat confident about this man." Fred muttered. "Isn't he the one who framed you for stealing Committee papers and selling them to the black-market?"

"Yes, but trust me, I can be a very good actor when I want to be." Grievous muttered back. He stood back in his hunched position and chuckled, which caught the attention of the blonde and brown-haired personnel escorting them, who merely looked over their shoulders at them before looking forward again.

"Well at least they're not robots." Fred muttered. The two girls stopped at a doorway, turned around, and suddenly became friendly.

"Right this way you two, Colonel Jenkins is inside." They both said simultaneously, disturbing both the cyborg and the agent. The doors slid open and a command deck similar to that of Grievous's was inside. Instead of standing over his employees like the cyborg would, Jenkins sat in a chair. The chair spun around to reveal the middle-aged man with his finely-trimmed hair, tan skin, and combed mustache. He jumped up.

"General Grievous, pleasure to have you here." He said joyfully.

"Bartholomew Jenkins, it _is_ an honor to be aboard the same ship as the likes of you." Grievous said back, in a fashion similar to Jenkins's.

_"Wow, I'm aboard a ship with two kiss asses." _Fred thought.

"A superb victory today General, a superb victory." Jenkins said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Yes it was Colonel." Grievous replied.

"By the way, where is the Spartan? Wasn't he your guard or something?" Jenkins asked.

"No, no, he's on Earth now, chasing down Tartarus." Grievous said.

"Ah, well then. So I hear that the Spartan was the one who destroyed the largest ship in the battlefield, was it not?" Jenkins asked next.

"Yes it was." Grievous replied.

"Of course if it were my men down there, I would've had a Longsword pick them up without risking their life." Jenkins said, his dislike of Grievous and his tactics beginning to surface.

"Oh really?" Grievous asked.

"Grievous, I think we should go." Fred muttered. Slowly he put his fedora hat on and lowered it to avoid eye contact from Jenkins's personnel looking at them with piercing stares.

"Not now." Grievous snapped at the agent. "Well would you risk five of your men when the bomb only had a few seconds left in it?"

"If I knew it would work yes." Jenkins shot back. Several of the personnel were staring up at the two titans go at it in the argument.

"Ha!" Grievous laughed. "You sound just like your daughter." He sneered.

"My daughter, how would you know her? She's sick in the hospital." Jenkins remarked.

"Oh really now?" Grievous asked. "Is her name Abigail? Does she have long raven hair? Green eyes?" He asked. Jenkins had a worried face on, knowing that was in fact his daughter. "Hmm…your little girl disobeyed her father didn't she?" He growled. Jenkins had a worried face on as he turned to his assistant and called out.

"Bring Kingsley on the monitor; I need to talk to him!"

"He's out of contact sir." One of his assistants called back. Jenkins, almost desperate, turned to Grievous.

"Where is my daughter?" He asked, almost in a pathetic tone.

"She left with the Chief earlier today, on the pursuit of Tartarus." The cyborg replied. Jenkins's eyes shot wide before he jumped at Grievous, pounding his fists into the cyborg's concealed armor, before breaking down and getting close to sobbing.

"How could you let my daughter go…go after that…that Brute?" He asked.

"She asked to go, therefore I let her." Grievous replied calmly.

"You." Jenkins scowled. "You're going to help me find her."

"Find her?" Grievous asked. "I _know_ where she is."

"Where?" Jenkins asked.

"Moscow." He answered. Jenkins turned toward one of his communication men.

"Call whoever is in charge in Moscow; if they went there they probably made a big entrance." He turned to Grievous. "And of the Brute, what if he captured them?"

"Stop worrying, she's in the hands of the Chief, she is quite safe." Grievous replied calmly.

"Yes, a…a freak who can blow up an Abater ship alone, yes, she is _very _safe." Jenkins snapped and turned toward his command post. "It's his fault the Princess of England is dead, and do you know who killed her? Tartarus!" He spun on his heels toward the cyborg. "Your Spartan was responsible for _her_ death, so just how _safe_ is my daughter with him?" He boomed.

"It wasn't his fault." Grievous snapped back. "He tried to save her, and you would not believe how that event crippled him mentally. For_ four_ months he would not speak to anyone, he just started to talk again, but it's still either 'yes sir' or 'no sir'."

"Mentally? He's a soldier, bred for combat, he doesn't need to have a mind, or feelings, what he needs is brute strength and enough wit to jump behind a block when he's getting shot at so he doesn't die, that's _all_ he was meant for." Jenkins hissed. Fred glanced down at Grievous's fists, shaking with rage.

"Uh…Grievous, I think it would be wise to leave now." He said as he gently pushed the cyborg toward the door. Grievous gave Jenkins one more glare before he accompanied Fred back to his ship, this time they weren't escorted.

"No one respects higher ranks anymore." Grievous muttered. Fred chuckled, thinking immediately of Sergeant Johnson, who really didn't respect any higher rankings, except that he wouldn't bark orders to them.

* * *

Aboard the Abater ship _Undying Pride_, there was held the council, the High Council at that, which consisted mostly of elderly Abaters and Prophets, as well as several younger Abaters, who were clad in silver armor instead of black. All of them sat in a round formation around the three High Prophets, Truth, Regret, and Mercy, and there stood a platform where the perpetrator stood, where he would be judged by the Council and the High Prophets. This time, it was Major Tusk, for both letting the enemy go, and settling for a small truce with him for a certain amount of time.

"Only one soldier did this, are you sure?" Truth asked.

"Yes, it was the Master Chief." Tusk answered truthfully. There came a small uproar from the council, the Abaters, who usually sided with their kind in these kind of cases, were also discussing the matters as they whispered to one another.

"Why was he not killed with the rest of them?" The Prophet of Mercy exclaimed.

"They weren't killed, they fled my forces, and he was going to kill us all within the Scarab if I hadn't surrendered to him." Tusk replied.

"Kill you? Inside of a Scarab, impossible, no mere human device can do such damage to one of our best." Regret snapped.

"He wielded what the humans call a Scorpion Tank; our backs were turned to him as he attacked. It is surprisingly powerful." The Abater answered as his eyes narrowed, picturing the man-made monstrosity.

"Why did your turrets not attack?" Regret asked next.

"They did, but they had little or no effect on the tank at all." Tusk replied. As the Prophets of Regret and Mercy were about to ask something next, Truth hovered in his throne closer towards him, which was still several meters away.

"You used your wit and honor to save your men Major, but the human Spartan should was meant to die first." Truth said.

"I shall never back down on a deal or promise." Tusk said honorably. Suddenly he looked around the room as the lesser Prophets began to shout and riot.

"There shall be order in this council!" Regret shouted as he slammed his fist onto the armrest of his throne.

"For some time Major you've led your men with honor and distinction, but we are not the Covenant anymore, we are the Abaters. Covenant use honor and never back down a promise, and when the one you're making a promise to is a highly dangerous human, you will not be expected to keep your promise to him." Truth said.

"But dear Hierarchs, you must understand, that human does not die if you shoot him, in the head, in the throat, wherever, the Elites you _dumped_ off have taught the humans how to use their shields, if I had even thought of trying to kill him he would kill me first." Tusk said nobly. The council began to riot again, crying out names like 'Traitor' and 'Heretic'.

Tusk looked around the room, looking at all of those shouting at him, even a few Abaters were up and yelling, though the majority of them were still seated silently. He turned to the Prophets, his head held high.

"I will continue to serve under my people's banner!" He boomed.

"No, you will not." Truth said, disgusted, as he looked over to Tartarus, who stood over to the shadowy corner of the room. Tartarus glared at two of his Brutes standing behind Tusk and grunted. The two Brutes walked toward the Abater, ready to seize him, when Tusk turned, giving them a cold stare with his golden eyes, before heading down the red carpet leading him to the exit, and where he was probably going to see his doom. The two Brutes followed him, and soon enough, Tartarus himself accompanied them.

"You see what being honorable gets you?" The Brute chieftain asked smugly.

"It gives me a sense of pride and honor Tartarus, something your kind will never achieve. You're no more than apes, rubbing your foul stench on other races so they will follow you." Tusk snapped. Tartarus couldn't help but chuckle sinisterly.

"If you love the humans so much, go down and see how much _they_ love you." He growled.

"Such a childish phrase." Tusk growled back.

"Seize him; we will be seeing the Prophets." Tartarus boomed. The Brutes snatched Tusk and dragged him down the hall, the Abater still walking on his feet with his head held high however. As they walked down a dark hallway, Tusk glanced around, this was the prisoner chamber, all members of the Abater army who had committed a crime, serious ones were usually sent to death, or whether they were sick, they were sent in here.

The Abater looked to his left to see a cell with four Jackals inside. Their red eyes glowed at them as they leaped at them and tried to claw at them through the steel bars.

"Maybe this one." A Brute chuckled, nodding toward the rabid Jackal cell.

"Yes, they could use the meat." The other Brute added. The Brute who first spoke rubbed his stomach with his free hand,

"Speaking of meat, I'm starving!" He whined. "This Abater would do nicely."

"Quit your bellyaching, we're almost there." Tartarus, now leading them, snapped. They came closer and closer toward the end of the hall, where Tusk's prosecutor was going to be. As they came closer still, the Brutes and Abater couldn't help but notice that with each passing cell, the hostility and madness of the prisoners got worse and worse. Finally the end of the hallway came and the doors slid open, revealing a massive chamber, Chancellor Grimm was standing there in his fine robe waiting. Tartarus bowed before the Abater elder. "We have brought the prisoner." He said.

"Very well, leave us now." Grimm said with a wave of his hand. "And take your Brutes with you." Tartarus looked up.

"Bu…as you wish." He bowed his head again and looked to his Brutes. "Release the prisoner." He told them, and they followed their orders and dropped Tusk from their grip. Grimm waited for Tartarus and his men to leave the room before speaking. The Abater elder looked down on Tusk, who was now on his knees before him.

"You know, the council voted on having you hung by your entrails and paraded throughout the ship." He said. "But ultimately your punishment is up to me." He held his hand out and his long skinny fingers curled up to form a fist, not a tight one though.

"I will die for my honor." Tusk said with a bow of his head. Grimm was somewhat pleased with Tusk's determination.

"Do you know where we are?" Grimm asked. Tusk looked up and around the room.

"The Hall of the Oracle." He said.

"Yes, the Hall of the Oracle." Grimm replied. "Every one of them were sent by the fathers of the universe before us, sent to protect every seed they sent to several planets." He added. Tusk looked around, together there were nine Oracles, all a round sphere with a glass lens eye which glowed a different color, however they were merely hovering now, the Prophets had learned how to deactivate them and make them 'hibernate' until they could be reactivated. They looked dead and soulless.

"Nine Oracles, one for each race: Abater, Brute, Elite, Hunter, Grunt, Jackal, Drone, Prophet, and Engineer." Tusk stated. Grimm smiled.

"Yes, please Major, rise." He said with as he motioned with his hand to rise. The Abater did so. "We were told by one of the Oracles long ago that humanity did not have an Oracle to guide them, therefore they were lost, hopeless, and ultimately, demons." Grimm said.

"Honorable demons at that." Tusk added.

"Indeed, I know you are no traitor Major, you fight with something our people lost long ago, a sense of empathy and honor. At times I wish to retire from the Abater council, it is tiresome and depressing, seeing as the Prophets and Brutes send my own men away to be killed for meaningless things. I can sense the uneasy alliance between this army, Abaters and Brutes, Abaters and Prophets; we dislike each other with a passion. Do you understand?" He said. Tusk bowed his head.

"Yes Chancellor." The Abater said. "But I must ask you."

"Yes? Anything Major." Grimm replied.

"What…what does this have to do with the Oracles?" He asked.

"It has been years since we've spoken to one of them, the Prophets are quite insistent on keeping them asleep, as they do have a tendency to speak, very much." Grimm said, gazing upon the rainbow of different colors each lens of each Oracle had, red, purple, green, orange, yellow, purple, black (which looked more like a grey when activated), maroon, and cyan. Oddly enough, Tusk was quite curious as to why there wasn't a blue Oracle, seeing that the color was a very common one that wasn't among the other common ones there.

"What do you plan to do Chancellor?" He asked.

"I plan on speaking with our Oracle, the Abater Oracle, the red one you see hovering first in the line of nine." Grimm replied. The Abater elder seemingly glided along the floor and picked up the orb, and held it in his hands, just about as large as his skull. Something he did activated the round orb and its lens came to life, glowing bright red now. The Oracle hovered out of the Abater's hand, now hovering between Grimm and Tusk.

"Greetings, I am 2401 Penitent Tangent." The red glowing Oracle said politely. "I am the Monitor of the Abater home world." He looked down to see none other than true Abaters standing below him. He hovered up a bit in surprise. "My goodness, I have not seen an Abater in some time, the only things I've seen are those foul old creatures. Might I ask you your names?" He said kindly.

"It is an honor Oracle, I am Chancellor Grimm, leader of the Abaters, and this is Major Tusk." Grimm said. Tusk bowed before the Oracle.

"Oracle? Might I ask you your definition on the term Oracle? I am a Monitor, sent by the great Beginners to watch over your race." Penitent Tangent said.

"You must understand, our beliefs, the Great Journey, is leading us to salvation, and I must ask you, does the human species have an Oracle?" Grimm asked.

"Chancellor, might I ask, what would that have to do…" Tusk asked but was cut off.

"Humans? Yes, of course, the Beginners sent with them another Monitor like the ones behind me here." The Monitor said. Grimm smirked.

"Just as I thought." He grumbled.

"Sir?" Tusk asked.

"The Prophets have led us to slaughter millions of humans for no reason." Grimm said.

"Might I ask why? The Beginners wanted their seeds to live in peace, did they not?" Penitent Tangent said. Grimm turned to the Monitor.

"Finally, I have figured it out, I understand now. Earth has something the Prophets want, and that is…" Grimm suddenly fell onto the floor limp; the needle of an Abater Snipe lodged in his skull, then exploded, his dark blood spilling onto the floor. Tusk and Penitent Tangent turned to the entrance, where Tartarus and the Prophet of Truth stood, an Abater Snipe in the Brute's hand. Tartarus chuckled as the Prophet looked on the dead Abater.

"A shame, yet I sensed the traitor in him." Truth looked up at Tusk. "I see he has shown you his lies. Chieftain, kill him."

"With pleasure." Tartarus laughed as he aimed the weapon at the Abater. Tusk growled as he pounced at the Monitor, whose hovering ability was able to easily lift the Abater up off his feet and through the air. As Penitent Tangent floated around the room, dodging the pink needles flying at them, he asked.

"Why are they attacking us? Does our universe not live in peace anymore?" He asked.

"I will answer those questions later; now get us out of here." Tusk ordered.

"Very well." The Monitor replied. He hovered back a bit. "Ready?" He asked. It took a moment, but Tusk realized what he was planning.

"Yes." He nodded. Penitent Tangent shot himself forward quickly. Tusk released his grip from the Monitor and stuck his feet out, colliding with Tartarus's chest and sending the Brute back a bit, though not enough to knock him off his feet. "Come on!" The Abater boomed as he dodged a deadly swipe to the head from Tartarus's sniping weapon as a melee one. Penitent Tangent hovered quickly after the Major, while passing the Prophet and Brute, he looked at them.

"Greetings otherworldly…"

"Come on!" Tusk boomed as he ran down the hall. The Monitor nodded to the two others kindly before floating after the Abater.

"Find him, see to it that he is killed, and the Oracle is dipped in acid." Truth said scornfully.

"Yes Hierarch."

**Quite a bit of reading huh? Well I hoped you liked these two chapters, and look forward to even more.**


	12. Death and Creation

**Chapter 12**

_Remote Location, Germany_

It was midday, yet the sky was dark and rain was pouring down. Though the cities of the world lay in ruin, the more remote parts of it remained surprisingly intact, with the old cottage buildings left abandoned, and the forest surrounding most of the village, it seemed as if one were to travel back through time to the Middle Ages, yet there wasn't anyone here, as it seemed. Trees rattled and birds flew away, squawking as they did so. Something swift and agile moved through the trees and vegetation with little sound to make, except for the brushing of leaves and grass.

"There it is." Someone whispered into the COM channel.

"Yes I heard it." Someone else whispered back.

"Quiet! I think it stopped." One more person whispered. The unseen figures waited, the noise had stopped, until they heard thumping sounds. Overhead, a frightening being leaped from one branch to another, making a low thumping sound with each hit.

"Move!" A girl's voice ordered. From the thick and tall grass, three figures leaped up into the trees to pursue the beast. The leader, clad in red armor, led the two others, her name, Alexis Langley Swans, or Eva-02, had hair that was often described to match her personality, fiery. The one closest behind her was inside of bright green armor; someone who, like Alexis, believed that he was superior to normal people for what he was, an Eva, and his name was Hugo Bixby, Eva-06. And the last, was the sweet and kind girl, Bethany Banks, Eva-07 plated with pink armor and looking up to Alexis, always wishing she could be as demanding and forceful as she was.

The beast turned around in mid-leap to reveal itself. It looked like it was made entirely of branches, leaves, and sticks, as even its joints cracked like wood when it moved. It was a bulky creature, an Ember-Wood, with two glowing eyes, and like most other beasts the Abaters sent out, it had a red ruby on its chest, apparently its, as with the others beasts', life source. Its fingers and toes were sharp sticks able to impale an enemy easily, and punching it was futile, since its body was just as sharp as its claws. Altogether, an Ember-Wood was a frightening creature, plus it was able to fit into its surroundings with ease.

The three Evas landed on a patch of dirt on the ground, staring up at the Abater beast. The Ember-Wood's eyes flashed before it pounced down on the three of them. The Evas scattered and jumped away as the beast landed where they stood moments before. Rising from its hunched position, the Ember-Wood turned when it felt something strike his back. Hugo had tried to punch the creature, but its prickly spines extending from its body only resulted in self-harm, his shields flickered as he stumbled back.

"Hugo you idiot." Alexis grumbled as she appeared from the shadows and delivered a kick to the Ember-Wood's head. The beast went down, but caught itself before it hit the ground and glared up at the red-armored Eva. Using its feet like arms, the Ember-Wood attacked Alexis, snatching her, then using tremendous strength to hurl the girl through the thick brush around them. Alexis skidded to a halt, then jumped up. "Beth, take it out!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Bethany cried as she appeared through the brush next, a glowing-red knife in her hand. As the Ember-Wood picked up Hugo with its awesome strength and tossed him away like nothing, Eva-07 plunged her knife into the beast's thick and prickly hide. The Ember-Wood glared at her and with its backhand, slapped her away, however, the knife she wielded sparked from the heat it held and within an instant, and the monster was engulfed in flame.

Screaming in pain, the Ember-Wood scurried around, fighting the flames, despite its body being consumed even more every moment. Bethany turned herself up from her face plant to the ground so she sat on the ground, but she screamed as a fiery hand latched onto her ankle and pulled her in. Even though it was consumed in fire, the Ember-Wood's piercing red eyes still glared down on Eva-07, determined to take her with it. Suddenly the beast looked up into the sky and howled out in pain as its chest exploded, destroying the weakened jewel in its chest. Hugo had taken the opportunity to kill the beast while it was weak, with one devastating kick. Bethany rolled away when the Ember-Wood almost fell onto her; she nodded her thanks to Hugo, who didn't reply at all.

"Good job." Alexis said as she walked up to them.

"Yeah, I did that." Hugo said smugly as he crossed his arms.

"Sure." Alexis hissed.

"Oh, and what did you do?" Hugo snapped. Alexis gave a cold glare from under her helmet at him before snapping it off and letting her long red hair tumble down, she touched the COM link in her ear.

"Hello, Command? Yep, we did it, the Abater's dead." She said.

_"Good work Alpha Team, we'll pick you up as soon as you can." _The person on the other line said. Alexis smiled and looked down on the burning Ember-Wood.

"Oh that's okay, take your time." She said and signed off.

"Isn't it weird how easy that Abater was?" Bethany asked as she pulled off her helmet as well, showing her short brown hair and matching brown eyes. "They're usually really hard."

"Yeah, or we're just getting better." Hugo replied, referring to himself, and leaving his helmet on.

"Oh, so you're copying the Chief now huh?" Alexis asked, putting her helmet by her side.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Hugo asked.

"I knew a guy who _always_ stayed in his armor." Alexis replied.

"Never heard of no Chief." Hugo said.

"Any." Bethany corrected.

"What?" Hugo asked.

"You never heard of _any_ Chief." The girl replied.

"Whatever." Hugo retorted.

* * *

Abigail was wandering aimlessly throughout the halls, deep in her own thoughts, when suddenly a door to her right slid open. Alarmed, the dark-haired girl couldn't help but jump, but she was relieved when she saw who it was. 

"Hello there Ms. Jenkins." Michel said kindly, wearing his usual nice shirt and dark pants.

"Hello Michel. You…you don't mind if I call you Michel do you?" She said. Michel's smile widened.

"Not at all, why do you ask?" He replied.

"Oh, well, I-I thought I was supposed to address Spartans and Evas by their codename." Abigail said. "And the Master Chief lets me call him Sven so…"

"He does?" Michel asked, his smile faded and his eyes looked like they were intrigued. "I am told that he only allows ones he cares about call him by his name." His smile returned. "He must care for you then."

"Why? I mean, why does he only let people he…" Abigail felt her cheeks blush. "He cares about; call him by his own name?"

"Hmm…I'm not sure." The Senior Chief replied. "Perhaps it was what happened a few months ago."

"Just what happened?" Abigail asked. "I keep hearing that, but I don't know what happened." She sighed. "The Committee deleted everything about it last time I researched it..."

"How do I put this?" Michel murmured to himself. "Well, six months ago, he was 'going out' with Princess Susan of England. So when Tartarus killed her, well, you can only imagine how painful that was for him." His smile faded again. "That was the last time I ever saw his face, the last time anyone's seen his face I am told."

"That's sad." Abigail said softly.

"Can I ask you a question?" Michel asked.

"Sure." Abigail said.

"Was being in the army what you really wanted to do when you were a child?" He asked. Abigail was quite surprised by the question, it was an odd one, a bit random, but still she thought, and looked up.

"No." She replied.

"What did you want to be?" The silver-haired boy asked.

"I…I don't know. I can't remember." Abigail answered. Michel's 'frown' lightened a bit.

"Neither did he." He replied before he turned. "Good day Ms. Jenkins." He said and walked away. The dark-haired girl stood confused. What did he mean by that? Victoria walked around from a corner from the opposite direction, the direction Abigail wasn't looking, suddenly the scientist froze. There stood her daughter, she could've told who she was a mile away, but something bugged her, how could she introduce herself?

From down the hallway Michel walked down, and a hallway connected to that one, came 'Takimee and the Master Chief, turning the corner speaking to one another, when the Elite spotted the girl.

"Ah, there's the Officer now. Still shaken up from that experience?" He asked. Abigail, nervous in front of the Master Chief as he and the Commander approached her, merely nodded. "I can only imagine what that can do to someone as young as you." 'Takimee said as he and the Spartan stopped before her. "You'll get used to it." Abigail's blush returned to her as her green eyes met with the Chief's visor.

"F-feeling well?" She asked, before cursing herself in her mind for asking something so stupid. The Master Chief nodded.

"Yes, thank you." He replied. There was a long silence; all of them were standing without speaking a word, until 'Takimee looked up.

"My, my Officer, you really should change out of those clothes, they're covered in dirt." The Commander said.

"Yes, I-I know Commander." Abigail replied. "But I'm afraid I didn't bring any extra clothing."

"I'm sure somebody here will be willing to take you in. Speaking of which, Chief, where are you staying?" He asked. The Master Chief looked at 'Takimee, then shrugged. "You must be staying somewhere; I've been told this is your new base of operations, so somebody _must_…" From out of nowhere Abigail brought her hand up to her mouth, her skin grew pale and she began to shake, her illness came back in an instant. Because of what happened earlier taking much out of her, she wasn't strong enough to stay conscious during this illness attack and nearly fell over, if it weren't for the Master Chief able to catch her. Victoria quickly rushed over to them.

"Is she alright?" She asked breathlessly. The Spartan picked up Abigail and held her in his arms now. He nodded.

"I think so." He said.

"It would not hurt to get her to the medic however." 'Takimee said. "I suppose I must delay my quest even further."

* * *

The Spartan, Elite, and scientist stood around Abigail's bed in the medic room, the doctor said that all she needed for the moment was rest. 'Takimee and the Master Chief felt that Victoria was being quite nervous for some reason, pacing back and forth in the room, twiddling her thumbs together. The Master Chief leaned up against the wall by Abigail's bed, his arms crossed, while 'Takimee sat down, his hands clasped together on his folded lap. 

"You two look alike." The Spartan said innocently over to Mrs. Myer. "Weird huh?" Victoria looked over at the Chief's blank visor, then forced a smile.

"Yes…that…that is weird." She replied, trying her best not to let her secret out, until her daughter was awake. Suddenly they heard a noise, a humming sound, a cheerful hum with an electronic tinge to it. It was similar to what Grievous's voice sounded like, except that it was far from being as low. 'Takimee noticed something glowing from one of the vents overhead, then came a thud, which caught everyone's attention.

"Oh dear, I suppose they bolted this one as well." The voice said. Several seconds passed, and the vent opened, still hanging on however by its lower hinges. A blue-eyed orb hovered out from the vent; he jumped at the sight of the four of them. "Why hello there." He said politely. "I seemed to have lost my way in the venting system."

"What the…?" 'Takimee stammered as he stood up, the other two were just as shocked.

"Oh, shame on me, I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am 343 Guilty Spark; I am the Monitor of this planet, Earth." He said cheerfully and kindly. 'Takimee, the Master Chief, and Victoria only stood stunned.

"Where did you come from?" 'Takimee asked, wondering if not that question was stupid.

"I come from the Beginners, a race that spread…" Guilty Spark said.

"No." The Chief said. "Where did you _just_ come from?" Guilty Spark looked at the green-armored Spartan and gasped with joy.

"A Spartan!" He floated toward him until he hovered only a foot away. "The Beginners said that a warrior known as a Spartan would be here. That was oh so long ago." He rambled on. "Oh! Please forgive me great Spartan, but to answer your question, I have been held here by those I only want to watch over, led by a man with brown hair."

"Gendo Ikari." Victoria said.

"That sounds like the correct term they used for him." Guilty Spark replied. "Anyhow, I escaped that glass case they put me in, and have been wandering this vast network of tunnels and vents for several days now, but the information I've overheard in conversations between humans has been quite worth it. I never would've guessed that Bobby was 'cheating' on Jennifer, you humans and your analogies." He laughed out loud. "They all fascinate and intrigue me, as well as give me a good laugh now and then." By now, everyone present was far beyond confused, and at this point were dumbstruck.

"Okay, I'm confused." The Master Chief said. Guilty Spark's blue eye glowed even deeper blue with happiness.

"More questions? Splendid! I shall be happy to assist you." He said. Suddenly Victoria looked up, something catching the back of her mind.

"You know what, I-I have to go right now, I'll be back as soon as I can, please stay here when she wakes up." She said as she hurried to the door.

"Of course Mrs. Myer, we'll be here when you get back." 'Takimee replied, sitting down casually again.

"Farewell." Guilty Spark said politely while the Master Chief waved. Victoria smiled, glanced at her daughter, and closed the door behind her. The Monitor looked at the Spartan. "Might I ask who that was?"

"Victoria Myer." The Chief answered.

"Ah. Now then, what are you confused about?" Guilty Spark asked.

"Try everything." 'Takimee said with a chuckle.

"Where did you come from?" The Chief asked.

"I have already answered that dear Spartan, I come from the Beginners, the fathers of all races in the universe. They programmed me as well as nine others to monitor over and watch the species and planet we were assigned to watch over. One for each species." The AI said matter-of-factly

"Who were the other species?" 'Takimee asked. Guilty Spark turned his blue lens eye toward the Elite.

"The other species my programmers created were the Abaters, Brutes, Drones, Jackals, Grunts, yourself, or Elites, Hunters, Prophets, and Engineers." He looked back to the Spartan. "They loved all of their creations."

"What happened to these, Beginners?" The Master Chief asked.

"Well, after accomplishing every strategic obstacle there was to do, the Beginners found it necessary to simply disappear from the universe, so that their children could learn and live for themselves, and in their hopes, in peace." Guilty Spark's eye blinked, which was a simple fade before lighting up brightly. "But sadly, I can easily tell that their dreams did not come true, which is why you are here is it not Spartan?" The Master Chief merely nodded.

"Just how long have you been here?" 'Takimee asked. "As well as the other Monitors on their planets?"

"Me? I've been here on Earth since the Beginners created this planet, several billion years ago, I've studied everything from the bacteria to begin life, to the first jawless fish to swim in the sea, to the massive beasts you know as dinosaurs roaming the planet, to when the planet froze over, and man began to walk, hunting the mammoth." He laughed out loud. "I even helped you in the past, with those who built the pyramids, I assisted them with the correct dynamics and formations of the behemoth pyramids, which is why they align with the star systems the Beginners enjoyed most. But as much as I enjoy having those I look after as chums, I'm afraid I cannot do so, my mission is strictly prohibited to only watch over humans. I'm afraid the Beginners would be quite dissatisfied if they knew I assisted your kind with your difficulties in the past."

The Master Chief thought for a moment, so much knowledge from such a small being, quite a few mysteries were solved right then. Then he looked up.

"One more question." He said. Guilty Spark lit up even brighter.

"Anything!" He said.

"Just what killed the dinosaurs?" He asked, being fascinated by the question since he was a child.

"Time did Spartan, time took its place on them, you see the Beginners had this all figured out, they had created an artificial meteor, made from similar synthetic rock like the one on this planet, and timed it, when the time was right, the meteor would crash down on Earth, wiping out those who would not be worthy of surviving to become intelligent, giving the mammals a chance to 'grow up' as I would say."

"Wait, you're saying Earth is not natural at all?" 'Takimee asked. Guilty Spark turned to him.

"Not at all, the only real natural things on this planet are the creatures inhabiting it." He replied.

"What about the ones who eat the plants, wouldn't they die if their food source wasn't real?" 'Takimee asked next.

"You'd think so wouldn't you?" Guilty Spark said. "However, the Beginners were so exact and so precise that they foresaw this obstacle, making most plants on Earth edible, this is no different than the artificial food you create."

"Interesting." The Elite said as he stroked his lower mandibles, so many questions were yet to be answered, not just about humanity, but now he was quite concerned with finding the Elite Monitor and learning of his peoples' past. The Master Chief shook his head to jumble around the newly found information, what bugged him was about the plants. Wouldn't scientists have figured out plants are not really what we take them for? Suddenly the communicator on 'Takimee's wrist lit up. "Oh, please excuse me, I must answer this." He said and walked out of the room.

"Who is this?" Guilty Spark asked, looking at Abigail. The Master Chief looked down on the dark-haired girl, speechless for a moment, as his blank visor couldn't help but stare at her. "Is…something wrong?" The AI being asked. The Chief turned to the Monitor.

"No, nothing." He looked back down on Abigail. "She is Officer Abigail Jenkins." He answered.

"And, why are you and those other two watching over her? Does she display some kind of special importance to you?" Guilty Spark asked.

"Uh…no, I mean, um…" The Master Chief stammered. Guilty Spark laughed loudly, which was enough to awaken Abigail, her eyes opened slightly.

"So I have stumped you have I? I do apologize." The Monitor said. He looked at the dark-haired girl as her eyes slowly widened. "Hello there. Did we wake you?" Abigail, having met so many people in such as short amount of time, didn't even bother to ask who he was as she shook her head with a content look on her face and sit up in bed.

"Feeling better?" The Chief asked. Abigail nodded.

"I am 343 Guilty Spark, the Monitor of Earth and humanity." The AI said kindly.

"A what?" Abigail asked groggily.

"Long story." The Master Chief as he grabbed Abigail's shoulder and gently pushed her back onto her resting position on the bed, and placed the covers back up to her shoulders, causing both of them to blush. "You need to rest now." He said.

"Thank you." Abigail said softly. She looked away from the Chief's visor up to the ceiling, smiling. "I feel so filthy, in this uniform still." She began to giggle slightly. Her green eyes glanced at the Chief, who nodded, and smiled under his helmet, the first time in awhile.

"Rest." He said as he turned and walked toward the door.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Officer." Guilty Spark said with a nod before hovering after the Spartan.

"Sven…?" Abigail asked. Just as the Master Chief's hand wrapped around the knob, he turned around, towards the dark-haired girl. Abigail's face turned red, she wasn't sure why this time. "T-thanks." She said. The Master Chief nodded in acknowledgment before opening the door. The Monitor hovered out first, followed by the Chief, who closed the door gently. Abigail sighed and looked back up at the ceiling, before her eyelids shut once more.

**Okay, so the whole Beginners making artificial planets and plants is a little farfetched yes? I guess those of you who are religious or believe in intelligent design can take this a little better than Athiests can (by the way yes, I'm an Athiest, but that doesn't mean I eat babies or worship Satan, haha) Anyway, on a lighter note, I'm glad to see a few more fans of these stories popping in, and hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much.**


	13. Back Together

**Chapter 13**

'Takimee was standing in the hallway, talking on his COM link to someone else. His yellow eyes looked at the Chief and Monitor as they walked out. He nodded to them. Without a reply, the Master Chief walked down the hallway, Guilty Spark followed him; however 'Takimee was too busy with the person he was talking with to acknowledge this.

"Now where to Spartan?" Guilty Spark asked. The Master Chief didn't answer. The Monitor looked at him. "Is your mind occupied at the moment?" He asked. The Chief's head came back down to Earth and he looked at the AI construct.

"What?" He asked.

"You were obviously thinking deeply of something weren't you?" Guilty Spark asked. "May I ask what intrigues you so much that you cannot notice your surroundings or your environment?" He asked.

"Nothing, it was nothing." The Master Chief said, looked forward, and walked again. Guilty Spark shot forward in front of the Spartan and stopped him.

"Humans were always atrocious liars." He said and laughed. "Even with your helmet on it is easy to see that you are lying to both me and yourself." He hovered toward the Chief slightly. "If you do not tell me, it will bother me until you do." The Master Chief's visor reflected Guilty Spark's image, it was still emotionless, yet it was easy to tell the man under it was sad, and hurt. Without a comment, the Spartan looked down and walked around the Monitor before walking down the hallway.

Guilty Spark hovered beside the Master Chief.

"Why are you so quiet? I know you wish to talk, but you do no-"

"I don't feel like talking." The Master Chief replied.

"Hmm, feelings, what are those like? I hear they are vital to a sentient being's existence." Guilty Spark said. The Master Chief nodded.

"They're hard to explain." He said.

"I understand." Guilty Spark replied kindly.

* * *

"Shinji." Amy said cheerfully as she ran up to her boyfriend in the hallway, just leaving from her grandfather's office. "Guess what?" She asked. Shinji blinked. 

"What?" He asked.

"Everyone's back, they're here, at this base, well, except Alexis." The black-haired girl said joyfully.

"What?" Shinji asked, this time much more excitedly, and a wide grin crossed his face. "Everyone? Like…?"

"Like Michel, Ray, Sven, 'Zukamee, and 'Takimee." She replied.

"Really? Have you seen any of them?" Shinji asked.

"No." Amy said and giggled as she grabbed Shinji's hand. "Why don't you stop asking questions and come with me to see them?" And with that, Shinji was yet again dragged down a hallway by his girlfriend to do something.

* * *

"Well it's nice to finally get away from the others." 'Zukamee said as he walked into the mess hall, Ray accompanying him. Ray sat down quickly as 'Zukamee walked toward the vending machines. "Want anything?" He asked. Ray looked up. 

"No thank you." She said softly. Ray was known for having a very quiet voice, that she rarely smiled, and that she was an odd sight, having ruby red eyes like Michel, but instead of silvery hair, her hair was a light blue, and even odder yet, it was natural! 'Zukamee returned with a _Coca-Cola_ can in his hand and a straw in the other. He actually disliked the cans humans used, since he had to stick a straw down his throat every time he just wanted to drink from it. Sticking the straw into the opened can, the Elite sucked up the dark liquid; he stopped when his eyes began to water from all the Cola he swallowed. His eyes closed tightly and he removed the straw from his mouth, before his eyes opened widely and he sighed out in satisfaction.

"Wow, you're drinks always hit the spot." He said with a laugh. The Elite set the red can down and removed his helmet, revealing his odd looking head that reminded Ray of the friendly alien _E.T._ and he set it on the table. However he left the black-armored plating on his mandibles on.

"…'Zuri?" She asked quietly.

"Yes?" The Elite asked as he rubbed his head with his hand. Ray was silent for a moment and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Can…can I…touch your hand?" She asked. 'Zukamee's dark eyes blinked once, then widened slightly.

"Why?" He asked. Ray looked away.

"I don't know." She replied quietly. The Elite put his hands up and set them on the table, in the middle. Ray looked at his long, elongated fingers and put up her own hands, before resting them atop of 'Zukamee's. The Elite smiled kindly.

"Your hands are soft." He said. Ray looked up, into his eyes, then smiled. At first it was just a simple smile, but slowly it grew wider, the widest she had ever smiled before.

"Thank you." She said. 'Zukamee nodded. Slowly Ray removed her hands from his and the Elite put his helmet back on. Next he finished off his Cola, got up, and walked to the trashcan before tossing it in. He turned around and walked toward Ray, who was standing up now, where he stopped before her.

"Ray?" He asked.

"Yes?" The blue-haired girl asked.

"Why do you call me Zuri, when everyone else knows me by 'Zukamee?" The Elite asked. In his culture, to call any Elite by their personal name was a sign of appreciation or friendship.

"I don't know." Ray replied, her cheeks growing pink, and sudden feelings she never had were rushing up.

"Why is it you speak to barely anyone but me?" 'Zukamee asked next. Ray, almost ashamed of herself for reasons she didn't know looked down at their feet.

"I don't know." She said again. Slowly 'Zukamee removed the four armored plates over his mandibles and set them on the table, causing a clicking sound when they landed. Next his long index finger rose up, placed itself under Ray's chin and gently moved her head up, so that the ruby-eyed girl looked him in the eye.

Ray was breathing loudly now, nervous in front of the Elite, and since he had become aware of her feelings for him. 'Zukamee hesitated, he was going to try what the humans did, a kiss. He had seen it when he and the others were watching TV, some romantic movie where two people kissed lovingly. Elites didn't kiss, but for her, 'Zukamee thought, he'd try it. Slowly 'Zukamee leaned toward Ray, his eyes closing lightly. Ray's wide eyes slowly closed as well and her lips touched 'Zukamee's mandibles, which were doing their best to kiss her, an odd feeling, she thought, but she felt her heart melt and she felt what she thought was happiness for the first time in her life. Gently she began to kiss him back. Slowly 'Zukamee pulled away, his eyes opened, and Ray did the same. Her red eyes connected with his dark eyes, and there stood a long silence between them.

Slowly 'Zukamee put the mandible plates back on, however he refused to look away from Ray, who also did not look away. Gently the Elite took Ray's hand in his, and together they walked out of the mess hall, but once they saw someone in the halls, their hands separated, though it did hurt them a bit, they both knew without telling each other that their love was going to have to be kept a secret in their group.

* * *

The Master Chief was walking through the halls still, aimlessly, blindly, not having any intention of going anywhere, plus he was actually enjoying the conversations he had with Guilty Spark. Suddenly something caught his eye, and he saw Michel, walking down the halls as well. Quickly he rushed towards him, not running, but quickly, Guilty Spark was following him. 

"Hello." The Monitor said when Michel came close enough to speak with. The silver-haired young man turned on his heel, then smiled brightly at the Chief, for some reason, he never showed his teeth when he smiled.

"Hello Sven and, who is this?" He asked.

"I am 343 Guilty Spark; I am the Monitor of Earth and its inhabitants." The AI construct introduced himself, again.

"Pleasure to meet you." Michel replied politely. He looked at the Master Chief. "You wouldn't know where Ms. Natasha Abelev is would you?" He asked.

"Who?" The Chief asked. Michel smiled with a look of apology in his eyes.

"Never mind then." He said and laughed. Suddenly they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey!" They looked down the hallway, in the direction Michel was facing, to see a redheaded young woman running toward them, Alexis. "Hey you boys." She said as she slowed down and stood between the two of them.

"Hello Ms. Swans." Michel said politely.

"It's _Langley_ Swans to you." The redhead said, but unlike the times she usually meant it, she was slightly more friendly this time around. Michel smiled widely.

"You've hardly changed." He replied. Alexis was just about to look over to the Master Chief when Guilty Spark hovered in front of her, stopping a few inches away from her face, which caused her to jump back and curse at him.

"Greetings." The Monitor said, ignoring the harsh words Alexis threw at him. "I am 343 Guilty Spark." Thankfully he didn't say that he was the Monitor of Earth again.

"What the hell are you?" Alexis snapped.

"I am the Monitor of Earth and your kind." Guilty Spark said kindly.

"No I mean, what _are_ you?" Alexis snapped again.

"Hey Alex, ya enjoy kissing that thing?" Hugo said as he and Bethany showed up from the same direction as Alexis came.

"No, shut up Hugo." Alexis growled. Bethany was in a pink skirt, her favorite one, while Hugo held his helmet by his side, still wearing his armor, in his attempt to look manly he thought, but he did complain a lot about how uncomfortable it was.

"Who are these two?" Hugo asked, and not in a kind manner either.

"Well Hugo, these are the Spartans I've told you about." Alexis said, also not in the kindest voice. She turned to Michel and the Chief, this time with a much kinder face. "Michel, Sven, these are my teammates, Bethany and Hugo." When saying Hugo, her voice dropped to a grumble. Hugo looked at the Master Chief and put his helmet back on.

"So you copy people huh?" He growled. The Master Chief didn't reply, he merely looked at the Eva with his blank visor.

"Well Ms. Langley Swans," Michel said. "I'm going to be transferred to an Eva, all the Spartans are. Except…for Sven for some reason."

"Weird." Alexis replied.

"Yeah I heard about that." Bethany said, just to be part of the conversation.

"Why?" Alexis asked. Michel shrugged.

"I'm not sure." He replied.

"Probably 'cause they're obsolete." Hugo growled, still glaring at the Master Chief.

"Knock it off Hugo." Alexis snapped.

"Tell me big guy, just what have _you_ done so great that I can't do?" The Eva said smugly. The Master Chief didn't reply, instead he walked past the rude young man and down the hall.

"Pleasure meeting all of you." Guilty Spark said kindly before he hovered after the Spartan.

"Way to go ass." Alexis snapped at Hugo.

"I'm clearly better than him." The Eva said and crossed his arms.

"How? You never accomplish anything in the group, you take credit for what the rest of us do, and you hardly even know how to work a shotgun!" The redhead's list continued on for some time.

"My, my, what a conceited and spiteful young man wouldn't you think?" Guilty Spark asked. The Master Chief didn't say anything. Suddenly the alarm went off, and the Spartan took off running down the hall, not sure where to go, until he saw a group of Marines rush into a room, where he figured he was to go as well.

**Whoa, Elite/human -- gross. Well after watching Evangelion episodes and Rei (who Ray is based off of and has a slight name spelling difference) when this was all just a thought in my head, I always thought she wouldn't be one looking for someone with looks, rather than personality (Not really sure if that works) thus 'Zukamee comes in. Young, smart and learning quickly, and disciplined, I figured she would feel feelings for him. Yeah go ahead and flame for that, I just snicker at it. **


	14. The Tank & Eva04

**Chapter 14**

_Weapons Room_

Marines were scurrying about to arm themselves with Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, or SMG's, with a few grabbing a shotgun or sniper rifle.

"What's going on?" The Master Chief asked one of the Marines.

"All hell's breakin' loose Chief, better arm yourself well." The Marine said as he loaded a clip into his Battle Rifle. The Master Chief looked around the weapons rack, and snatched a Battle Rifle.

"What did he mean by 'all hell's breaking loose'?" Guilty Spark asked.

"It's going to be tough; you better stay here with the others."

"Hmm…others?" The Monitor asked.

"Abigail, Mrs. Myer, you know." The Master Chief replied, shoving a clip into his Battle Rifle. Guilty Spark nodded.

"Very well." He said and hovered off, humming joyfully. Suddenly 'Takimee rushed in with his Elites behind him, he spotted the Spartan instantly.

"Master Chief, the Evas are here correct?" The Elite asked. The Spartan nodded. "Good, you will take care of the beasts coming in, while my team shall dispose of the true enemy behind this."

"Who?" The Master Chief asked.

"Eva Unit 04 Chief, it's here, now." 'Takimee said grimly. The Master Chief glanced over behind the commander; his Elites were loading clips into their Carbines and recharging their plasma rifles, Ray loaded a clip into her sniper rifle, and 'Verimee loading one into his Beam Rifle, basically an Abate Snipe but used in the Covenant before the Abaters stole their idea.

"What is it doing here?" The Master Chief asked.

"We do not know, but it's after something I presume." The Elite commander said. He turned to his team. "Mount up and prepare for combat." He said and walked past them.

* * *

_The Surface_

Grunts, Elites, Marines, Evas, and Spartan waited in the shadows of buildings, the snipers readied their rifles and spied down on the streets, waiting for the threat or threats to show.

_"There appears to be just one enemy on the motion tracker so far, keep your eyes open and your wits sharp." _'Takimee said over the COM link.

"Yes sir." The Master Chief said, as he, Alexis, Bethany, and Hugo waited in a small corner store, Shinji's armor was still being repaired, and Michel's armor was still being made for him, therefore they stayed in the base. Suddenly the motion tracker in their heads up display lit up, and an enemy appeared close to them. They readied their weapons, but nothing was there. All too quickly the ceiling lit up in flames, the enemy knew they were there. "Move!" The Spartan ordered as he and the others leaped out of the windows and onto the streets.

Quickly the others opened fire on the menace, which was slowly floating down toward the earth.

"Is that a Slicer 'n Dicer?" Bethany asked as she raised her Assault Rifle up at the odd being. Suddenly a long, metallic appendage whipped out from the Abater and sliced Bethany's rifle in half with ease. Another appendage shot out and struck Alexis along her side, her blood spilling out onto the street, thankfully not a severe wound.

"Wort, wort, wort!" A red-armored Elite bellowed as he ran ahead of the Evas and Spartan with a rocket-launcher in his arm. Dropping to a knee, the Elite shot off a rocket, which hit the enemy dead-on. As they waited for the smoke to clear, everyone, Marines, Grunts, Elites, Evas, and the Spartan, felt their hearts skip a beat when the odd-looking Abater still hovered down. Finally the enemy landed. It was very similar to a Slicer 'n Dicer, a rectangular body, a skull-like face or mask, and stubby little legs protruding from its body, which was a mixture of grey and black, plus the usual red orb most of the beasts the Abaters commanded had, however, instead of having clawed hands for arms, its only appearance arms were two thin, flexible sheets of metal.

"I'll handle 'em." Hugo said as he snatched Alexis's Assault Rifle laying on the ground and his own to fire simultaneously at the Abater. The monster was, however, still unaffected. The Abater stood still for a moment, then suddenly its metallic arms flew forward, right under Hugo's arms, and shot up, slicing the boy's arms clean off. Hugo flew back screaming in pain as his blood poured from the wounds.

The Master Chief lowered his Battle Rifle in pure amazement, the distance between Hugo and the Abater had to have been fifty feet or more away from each other, yet the arms shot forward like rubber bands. Then he had an idea, the orb on the Abater's body, their weakness. He looked at the Elite with the rocket launcher, who was also staring at the enemy in shock.

He patted the Elite on the shoulder. However, before he could tell the being his plan, the Abater's eyes glowed for a split-second before another explosion took place near where they were standing.

"Get him into cover." Alexis ordered Bethany to drag Hugo while the redhead collected his arms, then retreated into another building. Meanwhile the Master Chief and the Elite ran to another.

"What's your name?" The Chief asked.

"Lori 'Letomee." The red-armored Elite replied.

"Alright, 'Letomee, I'm going to put this grenade into that thing's core." He said, holding up a grenade. "I need you to cover me with the rocket launcher there." 'Letomee nodded.

"Yes sir." He said and loaded a new rocket into one of the launcher's barrels. Quickly the Master Chief took off sprinting out of the building just as the Abater released another blast on a group of Grunts firing Needlers at it, with 'Letomee right behind him. Coming closer to the threat with each massive stride, the Spartan tossed his Battle Rifle away and pulled up the grenade. He needed two hands, one to pull the pin off and the other to release it. Just as the Abater spotted the Master Chief and its arms readied, a rocket from 'Letomee's launcher whizzed by the Spartan and struck the enemy, blinding it for a moment.

Pulling the pin off, the Master Chief held the grenade forward and shoved it towards the Abater's core, however, a sudden click came on and a metal shielding wrapped around the red core, and the grenade in the Chief's hands ignited. Smoke engulfed both of them and 'Letomee slowed down, feeling that he failed, when he looked up the Spartan and Abater were both intact, staring at the other, with the Master Chief's shielding down. With a quick snick, the Abater's arm shot up, and pierced the Master Chief's armor, through his torso, before pulling itself out again. With a grunt, the Spartan fell to his knees, and looked at his hands, now dripping with his own blood. 'Letomee appeared by the Chief's side quickly and helped him to his feet.

"We're getting you out of here sir." The Elite said as he aimed his rocket launcher at the Abater and fired. Again it struck dead-on, and again it didn't do a thing. 'Letomee looked down on the Spartan, whose head was hung and was loosing consciousness fast. The Abater's eyes glowed again, ready to reduce to both of them to dust, when it was engulfed a bright light itself, and an explosion came after. A Phantom flew by and stopped, hovering just overhead the Elite and Spartan.

_"It's here, Eva Unit 04!" _'Takimee exclaimed on the COM channel. From the white light, an Eva-like figure walked through, not injured by the blast a bit. It revealed itself, having red eyes, shiny silver armor, and a design similar to that of Eva-03, probably because they were both engineered and built in the same base. The Phantom opened fire on it with a shower of purplish-blue plasma from its turrets. Unaffected, the Eva looked up, its red eyes glowed brighter and the Phantom was flung into a building, with shattered glass scattering everywhere. The Eva looked down at the Elite and Spartan.

"So, the Spartan is here." He pulled his hand up and using his mind, shoved the two away. "I will need you later…" He muttered. The Eva jumped up into the air, hovering as he released his anger upon the others present; however, he tried his best not to kill them, he instead tossed them around like rag dolls. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared into a flash of light. The Master Chief was able to see this, since he, and 'Letomee, were the only two who weren't thrown around, before he fell unconscious.

* * *

_Tokyo-03 Hospital_

Since the medic at the base had nowhere near the supplies or beds needed to tend to those injured in the battle, Gendo Ikari instructed them all to be transported to the nearest and finest hospital. The Master Chief's eyes opened, staring up at a white ceiling. He felt different, naked, as he looked down, seeing he had been stripped of his armor, now only in a hospital patience's blue gown, with a soft white sheet covering him. The young man looked around; there was a room of thirty beds, all of them occupied with Marines, Elites, and Grunts. The Grunts, who usually wore their methane tanks on their backs, were stripped of their armor as well and their breather was attached to a methane-pumping machine, so their frail little blue bodies were visible now. The Master Chief didn't notice until now that he had a visitor.

"Hello Abigail." He said as he looked over to the dark-haired girl, sitting at his bedside.

"Hello Sven." She replied kindly, she was still wearing her old uniform, however it was clean now, with the tatters and tears still along her arms and dress. "Feeling better?"

"Oh hello." Guilty Spark said as he appeared seemingly from nowhere. "You have had many of those here worry Spartan." The Master Chief looked at Abigail, who giggled slightly.

"He insisted on coming." She said.

"How long have I…?" The Chief asked.

"About two days now." The Monitor said.

"Two days?" The young man asked, surprised.

"Mmm-hmm, most of those injured have left, these are those worst injured." Guilty Spark added. Slowly his mind returned to him, of the Abater, of the Eva, how he became this way, and he ran his hand over his chest, where he felt a scar, not a scab or stitches like he expected, but a scar.

"Where are the others?" He asked.

"Eva Units 00, 02, 03, and 07 are okay, Eva Unit 06 however is in this room as well, the medics knew how to reattach his arms." The Monitor went on. "The others I presume you mean, like the white-armored commander and his team, are alright as well."

"Where's my armor?" He asked.

"Oh, it's been destroyed." Guilty Spark replied.

"What?" The Spartan asked.

"Do not worry; your armor is merely being upgraded, as the Dr. Winchester says." The glowing blue ball said calmly. The Master Chief nodded and closed his eyes, sinking his head back into his pillow, and taking a deep breath. "If you can excuse me, I shall go to the others and inform them of your awakening." Guilty Spark said and hovered away. Nervously biting her lower lip, Abigail grabbed the Master Chief's hand and held it tightly in hers. The Chief opened his eyes to see her saddened expression.

"I was worried." She said softly, so that those around them couldn't hear. The Master Chief felt her hands tighten on his, as they began to tremble and tears began to form in her eyes. This was bringing so many memories back for the Spartan; however, he saw Abigail far more fragile than Susan was, more than likely because she was always torn away from her family and people she wanted to be friends with. The Master Chief squeezed her hand back, then smiled kindly, to let her know he was fine. Abigail smiled back, just as a tear rolled down her cheek. Once they heard the doors open, Abigail didn't care to look at who was coming, but she released Sven's hand and wiped her tears away. Dr. Winchester was the first to the Spartan's bedside, who had a smile on, but this one was much more of a pleased one than his usual smile.

"I'm so glad you're okay Sven." He said as he patted the Master Chief on the shoulder. "You scared a lot of us there." The young man smiled back and nodded to the scientist. Abigail didn't notice until now how extremely pale Sven was, well being encased in MJOLNIR armor probably had something to do with it, the young man looked sick, his skin white as a piece or clean paper or a blanket of snow.

"What was that Abater Doctor?" The Master Chief asked. Dr. Winchester grunted from his achy joints as he sat down in the small chair at the Spartan's other side, before he crossed his legs.

"Well, we've never encountered one of those before. Some said it looked like a Slicer 'n Dicer, although this one was far more lethal than an SnD could ever hope to be." 'SnD' was the short nickname for Slicer 'n Dicer. "But General 'Fortamee had decided to call it the Tank." Sven blinked once.

"That suits it." He said as he laid back down on his bed. Guilty Spark appeared again.

"I do apologize, but it seems that Mrs. Victoria does not wish to come in. She says this facility is depressing." The Monitor said. Dr. Winchester slowly got to his feet.

"I forgot to tell you, Sven, after speaking with Commander 'Takimee, I have decided to let you live with Amy and I in our apartment, if that would be fine with you." The scientist said. The Master Chief sat up again and nodded.

"Yes sir." He said. He glanced at Abigail. "Is Abigail staying anywhere?" He asked. Winchester nodded.

"Yes, um…a friend of mine has taken the duty of taking her in." The scientist said, trying not to let Abigail know that her mother was here just yet. "Now then, your clothes are right there beside your bed, Sven, we'll take you to a restroom where you can get changed.

**So there's the Tank (based off Zeruel from NGE) and Eva-04, who, like Tusk, might just play a large part in the future...though with me rewriting Abate3 from scratch we may not know. Believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, but the end of this story is nigh, so enjoy it whilst you can, and don't forget to review please.**


	15. Kroenen, the Nazi Spartan

**Yeah so it's a little late over here, and I'm just deciding to upload another chapter, nonetheless a slightly relaxed chapter at that. However, the appearance of a new character should perk up a few interests in my desperate attempts at getting more readers. :) **

**Chapter 14**

_Hospital Hallway_

Both Abigail and Sven had been given clothes to change into. With them dressing up in the two separate restrooms, Dr. Winchester and Dr. Myers waited for them in the hallway, of course Guilty Spark was hovering around, humming joyfully.

"Ready?" Dr. Winchester asked Victoria, who was very nervous on seeing her daughter seeing if she still loved her, nodded hesitantly. Slowly both doors opened about the same time. Sven seemed nervous, in a zip-up sweater and jeans, and Abigail, in a button-up shirt and white skirt, walked out. Herman chuckled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a comb, finely sealed in a wrapper, and handed it to Sven. "Here, use it whenever you want." He said with a grin. Hesitantly the Spartan took the comb, still unused to the feeling of actually feeling something. Slowly sticking it into his pocket, Sven noticed Abigail was present. They looked at each other, blushed, then looked away, however neither Dr. Winchester nor Victoria noticed this. "Ready you two?" Winchester asked. Both Abigail and Sven nodded. "Oh and Abigail." The dark-haired girl looked up.

"Yes?" she asked. Dr. Winchester looked to Victoria, who stepped forward nervously. Once the two of them saw each other, their green eyes both connected and Abigail knew quickly who she was. "Mom?" Abigail asked, taking a step forward. Victoria nodded slightly. Abigail jumped up and wrapped her arms around her mother; Victoria wrapped her arms around her daughter as well. "I've missed you." Abigail said softly.

"I've missed you too." Victoria said back.

"Doctor?" Sven asked.

"Yes Sven?" Winchester asked. The Master Chief leaned down so he was at the scientist's ear, and that the Abigail and Victoria couldn't hear him.

"What are they going to do about Mrs. Myers's other family?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Dr. Winchester replied. "I would imagine she'd stay with them still." The Master Chief nodded and stood straight up again. "Well then." The elderly man said as he turned. "Let's leave these two to speak with each other in peace shall we?" He said. "Come along Guilty Spark."

"Coming." The Monitor said, breaking from his daydreaming and humming to follow him. The Master Chief paused for a moment, looked at Abigail, feeling glad to see her to happy, and followed Dr. Winchester.

* * *

"Well here we are." Dr. Winchester announced as he opened the door to his apartment, among many other family's homes stacked up and down and side to side in the building. Considering what Tokyo-03 was like, they were in a very clean and nice neighborhood. It was spacious, for an apartment, with the living room, a couch and chair around a TV in the corner, a doorless entrance to the cramped kitchen and dining room, with a small table for four, counters, stove, and refrigerator. To the left of the living room, was a short hallway, where to the right was a bathroom, to the left was a bedroom, presumably the Doctor's, and at the end of it was a guest room, with a couch that folded out into a bed, which was where Amy probably slept, and a computer and desk in it as well.

"It is indeed lovely Doctor." Guilty Spark said kindly as he hovered over to the comfortable couch and landed on it, nestling into it.

"And Sven, this couch folds out into a bed, where you will be sleeping, if that is alright you." Winchester said as he motioned to the blue couch. The Spartan shook his head.

"No, no, that's fine sir." He replied. Dr. Winchester smiled.

"Sven, you don't have to call me sir you know." He said. The scientist placed his hand on the young man's shoulder. "You're like a son to me you know." The Master Chief smiled slightly, then nodded.

"Okay, Da…Doctor." He caught himself before saying dad. But it would have suited Winchester for him, since he has been like a father to him since awakening. From the backroom a familiar black-haired young girl walked out.

"Sven!" Amy said joyfully and hugged him. "We're like a family now." She said and jumped away, smiling widely. "Shinji's been dying to see you again."

"Where's he been?" The Master Chief asked.

"Oh, his armor was damaged in a fight against an enemy, that's why he wasn't there with you the other day." The blue-eyed girl said. "Would any of you want something to…?" Amy turned around and jumped up, accompanied with a shout. Guilty Spark knew he was the reason for this and hovered back up.

"Hello, do not be alarmed." He said. "I am 343 Guilty Spark."

"Yes, Amy, Guilty Spark is an AI; he'll be staying with us too." Dr. Winchester said.

"H-hello." Amy said, still jumpy about seeing the odd-looking construct in the first place.

* * *

_Ship: __A Grievous Fate_

Grievous led Fred and Nikki into the ship's life pods, a device that wasn't always successful, and was used rarely, but it was like something from the movie _Alien_ where one jumps into a pod big enough for a human and it freezes, leaving them in suspended animation until they are thawed.

"Grievous, what's in here you want to show us?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, it's-it's freezing." Nikki said and shivered.

"I would like to show you something the Germans have been keeping under wraps for some time." The cyborg said as he typed in a key sequence on a pad beside a closed pod. With a hiss of escaping air, the life pod opened slowly, to reveal a man, encased in ice two times over. His body was mangled horribly, massive cuts sewn together; skin yellow as butter, a hole over where his heart was supposed to be, nothing but skin and bone, and his face was the most frightening. His eyes were wide open, for the eyelids had been cut off, along with his lips, giving him an almost zombie-like gaze.

"Grievous, what the hell is that thing?" Fred asked, taking a step back. Grievous didn't reply. Instead, he reached into his cloak, grabbed something from one of the inside pockets, and pulled out an odd-looking key. Gently the cyborg general placed the key into the hole over the man's heart, and like an old-fashioned toy train or old fashion watch, he twisted it, gears inside of the man were heard with clicks and squeaks. Crunching ice, the man looked up; his eyes looked around and fixed themselves on Grievous.

"Hello Karl." The cyborg said, his eyes narrowed and a smile under his helmet. Grievous turned to the now-frightened humans. "Frederick, Nikki, this is Karl Ruprecht Kroenen." The cyborg turned and opened up a closet, meant for storing one's clothes while in hibernation. He turned back to Kroenen with a long overcoat, an old-fashioned dress coat, and old dress pants, overall, everything looked like it came from the 40's or 50's. Crunching through more ice, Karl pulled his frail arms up and took his clothes. Next Grievous went to the closet and pulled out an army hat with an eagle on it, and a blank mask with two eyes on it.

* * *

"What is that thing Grievous?" Fred asked, as he, Nikki, and the cyborg stood outside of a restroom and waited for Kroenen to show himself.

"I have told you his name." Grievous replied.

"No sir, _what_ is that thing?" Nikki asked. Grievous chuckled slightly.

"He is like me." He stated. "Of course he dates back far further than I do." The cyborg's golden eyes flashed. "Karl Kroenen was born in Munich, Germany in 1897."

"Impossible, that's just impossible." Fred said and crossed his arms.

"That's what many think." Grievous replied. "He was 'killed' during your World War I, but was revived thanks to Nazi cybernetic technology, primitive and difficult to design and make back then compared to what we do now."

"So he's a Nazi?" Fred asked.

"Used to be, yes, those who made me into who I am before you told me this story, Karl was once the dictator Hitler's top assassin. When the war was over, he had nowhere to go to, so he simply vanished for several years. The fact was, that the German government had kept him in hibernation for nearly a century, until today." They turned when the door opened, and Kroenen stepped out. It looked like he was a blast from the past, fitting several Nazi officer descriptions.

Kroenen dusted off his old hat and placed it on top of his helmet, the eagle showed that he was an Officer Colonel. The two eyes were black and didn't allow for his blue eyes to pierce out at anyone, something Nikki was slightly thankful for.

"Can I ask what's with the helmet?" Fred murmured to Grievous.

"It is a gas mask designed to keep out any and all germs." Grievous muttered, before leaning closer to the agent. "He hates germs…" He added. Fred sighed, now they had a Nazi who was a germophobe on their ship. "Welcome back my dear old friend." Grievous announced as he held his arms out. Kroenen nodded, though he was easily capable of speech, but since his days in the military, he had decided not to speak very often. "Come, I have something you might be very glad to see." Grievous said and led the former Nazi to the weapons room. Fred and Nikki looked at each other.

"Do you trust this thing?" The brown-haired young woman asked.

"I dunno, if we can trust Grievous, I suppose we could trust this Kroenen guy."

The two cyborgs returned to Grievous's command post and stood above the personnel working, along with Fred standing with them.

"What'd you want to show him?" Fred asked Grievous. Grievous nodded to Kroenen, who shot his wrists out, a long silver blade extended from each arm of his jacket with a click. "No offense Grievous, but just what good are wrist blades gonna do in this war?"

"Well, in the hands of an ordinary soldier you'd be right Frederick." Grievous said. "But Karl here, is a master of them, he has been compared to a ninja, with similar technique and similar skill and precision." He looked around and leaned in closer by Fred. "Believe it or not, Karl was the first attempt at the Spartan project."

"What do you plan and doing with…him?" The agent asked.

"I think he'd appreciate seeing Earth some time after he left it. Wouldn't you Karl?" Grievous turned to the old cyborg, who didn't reply. "Excellent, Frederick, please escort Karl to the launching bay, you shall accompany him down to Earth via Longsword."

"What?!" Fred exclaimed.

"Don't worry; two pilots will be manning the ship." Grievous replied calmly.

"No, I mean, I have to go with…Karl down to Earth?" Fred asked.

"Of course, you thought I would take him?" Grievous asked. "I have to keep my command over the ships here." He said and scooted Fred away. "Bye for now." He said. Fred turned to Kroenen, who stared blankly at him through the black eyes of his mask. The agent sighed.

"Come on."

**Yes so that crazy Nazi from Hellboy has joined the crew, and, like Grievous, will be the only one from his universe that will be appearing at all. (Sorry, the big red guy does NOT make an appearance) As I wrote before, Abate3 is coming along nicely (Almost 40 pages! And I'm just getting started!) And if you've reviewed my bio lately you may see that new threats are on the way, and as of now, I am writing an exciting fight between, yes, Tartarus and none other than General RAAM from Gears of War. Hope that keeps you from leaving ladies and gentlemen. Happy Father's Day, and don't forget to review please.**


	16. Am I an AI?

**Chapter 15**

_Dr. Winchester's Home_

_10:17 PM_

"Doctor?" The Master Chief asked as he came from the backroom, seeing Winchester reclining on the comfortable chair and watching TV.

"Yes Sven?" Herman asked.

"If Amy and I are staying here, what about the others, like Michel, Shinji, Alexis, and whatnot?" The young man asked.

"They're all staying with Major Misato." Amy said from the kitchen.

"Yes, Misato Katsuragi has broken her back, but is managing for Eva 01, 02, 06, 07, and Michel to stay with her." Winchester added.

"Oh." Sven said and walked forward, when he spotted a familiar figure sitting with Amy at the table.

"Hi Sven." Abigail said. The Master Chief looked over at her, surprised that she had come, then nodded.

"Hello." He said.

"Want some tea?" Amy asked. "It's really good." Sven nodded, merely out of his sense of politeness. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a chair, between the two girls and sat down. Amy put a glass cup in front of him and poured some tea into the cup.

"Thank you." He said softly with a nod.

"Abigail made it." Amy replied. Sven picked up to cup with both hands, and sipped it. He never had tea before, but it tasted good he thought. He looked at Abigail, who seemed to be waiting for a reply.

"It's good." He said, again his voice was soft. Abigail smiled and blushed.

"T-thank you." She stammered.

"Oh Spartan." Guilty Spark asked as he hovered out from the backroom. "I have been waiting for your return and…why hello." He said at the sight of the two girls and hovered into the room.

"Were you two doing something?" Amy asked.

"We were engaged in a rousing game of what you call checkers." Guilty Spark replied.

"I'm sorry." The black-haired girl said.

"It's okay." Sven said. "It wasn't that exciting." Abigail looked at the Chief, who was twiddling with his thumbs nervously as he looked down on his lap, looking as if he was ashamed of something.

"How is your reunion with your mother?" Guilty Spark asked Abigail. The young woman's green eyes tore themselves from Sven up to the Monitor.

"Oh, it's good." She smiled and looked at Amy. "I never would've guessed I had a brother, or a half-brother at that."

"Yeah, Caleb's a nice kid." Amy replied. Sven picked up his cup of tea and finished it, before setting it down again.

"It was good Abigail, thank you." He said softly as he got up and walked into the living room quietly, Guilty Spark followed him. Abigail watched him leave, however he didn't really seem to notice or mind her staring at him. Amy leaned over the table.

"Why is he acting so weird?" She whispered. Abigail turned, looked at Amy, and shrugged. As Sven was about to go finish Guilty Spark's game of checkers, he looked at the TV, looking at an old movie, maybe from the 70's or so. It showed a man in a rubber dinosaur suit, fighting some other man in a rubber suit of a three-headed dragon; of course it was in Japanese, with English subtitles on the bottom of the screen.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Godzilla." Winchester replied. "Just something humorous to watch, instead of all of this depressing news all the time." He was right, Godzilla fighting the dragon, called King Ghidorah, looked and seemed very silly.

"Coming Spartan?" Guilty Spark asked. Without a reply, the Master Chief turned and walked into the backroom, where there was a fold-up table standing, with the checkers board and the checkers on it. "Ready?" The Monitor asked as he hovered in his position and Sven took his seat. The Chief nodded, presumed it was his turn, and moved his black checker to the closest red square. Guilty Spark laughed joyfully. "Your decision has failed you." He joked. A short blue lightning bolt serving as his arm in a way shot out from his eye and moved one of his red checkers to jump Sven's black one.

The Master Chief looked at the checkers board, Guilty Spark was beating him, badly, and he only had a few checkers left, all cornered by the Monitor's red checkers.

"You win." He said and sat straight up, a faint smile on his face.

"Really? So soon?" The AI asked. "Would you wish to play again?" Sven nodded slightly. "Excellent, your simple games are enjoyable, I will give you that." Guilty Spark said and laughed.

* * *

"This is it, Kroenen, Tokyo-03." Fred announced as he and the cyborg walked out into the night. However, the town was still fully lit, people were still walking the streets, and most of the creeps had come out by now, following women, selling drugs, and starting fights. Japan had changed so much since he was there Kroenen thought, back then it was no more than wooden buildings and everyone were honorable people. 

Kroenen walked out into the streets, his head craned high, staring up at the massive skyscrapers dotted with lights from rooms inside of them, he suddenly missed the stars he used to see when he was still alive, now replaced by the blue shielding over the city, which had been repaired since the attack the Tank did earlier. He was still alive, but not by nature, but it was said that it was a simple will to live that kept Kroenen alive, not his cybernetics, and his blood had been replaced with dust.

"Hey pal, you look like you got a pretty penny on ya." An overweight bald man grunted as he sprung out from a dark ally. "Could you spare a couple of bucks for a poor guy like me?" A misshapen grin crossed his face. Kroenen didn't reply however. "Hey, pal, you hear me?" The man snarled.

"Oh boy…" Fred muttered as he ran his hand over his face.

"Listen bud, just gimme your money, and ya won't get hurt." The man grunted. Again Kroenen didn't reply, simply too busy looking around the vast city, he seemed to mock the man by not saying anything. "Fine, do this the hard way will ya?" The man sneered as he pulled out a pocket knife. Kroenen suddenly snapped his attention to the man, now that he was a threat.

With a snick a wrist blade shot out from one of his sleeves, and the man felt that he just made a big mistake. Without so much as a grunt, the German cyborg drove a blade deep into the man's gut. The man's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he was about to scream, but nothing came out. Quickly Kroenen pulled his blade out, before impaling him again, then again, and again. Each strike was like a blur before Fred even lost count of how many time's the cyborg was impaling his attacker.

"Come on Karl." The agent said as he dragged Kroenen away as quickly as he could. The cyborg still struggled a bit, but after awhile, decided to go with Fred and leave the scene, despite being dissatisfied with his kill. He looked over his shoulder and saw several other men help the injured man to his feet. Kroenen grunted in frustration when he saw the man was still alive, but barely. Suddenly something beeped in the COM link in Fred's ear. He touched it to activate it. "Hello?" He asked, as if it were a phone.

_"Agent MacDonald." _Gendo Ikari said.

"Yes sir?" Fred asked. The line was transferred to Gendo's right-hand man, Kozo.

_"Frederick, when Eva Unit 04 showed up, do you know why it just showed up and disappeared?" _Kozo asked.

"What? Eva Unit 04 was here? What's it want?" Fred asked.

_"We don't know, we thought you would, since you're in so much secrecy within the Committee." _The man asked.

"Ha!" Fred laughed with mock-seriousness. "The Committee hasn't told me anything in the past four months, why would they tell me something about Eva 04? Hell, I'm just sticking around in order to keep my paycheck."

_"Well, at the base, we're beginning to speculate, and are 99 sure, that Eva 04 is an AI." _Kozo said.

"What? Then why would the Committee build that and…oh my god…" Fred's eyed widened in shock. "I don't think they meant to." Kroenen looked over at the agent, curious as to what made him so shocked.

* * *

Silently Ray walked up a fire escape staircase to the top of a building. She reached the top, her face still as blank as ever, when she spotted a similar figure. 

"Why hello Ray." Michel said politely, his hands shoved in his pockets and his usual smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Ray asked softly, not in a rude way, but a curious manner.

"The voice told me, did a voice tell you to come here too?" The silver-haired young man asked. Ray nodded. "Hmm…perhaps the voice wanted to speak with us about something?"

"You're right Mr. Kreigler." Eva 04 said as he appeared seemingly from nowhere, his red eyes glowing bright. Michel and Ray kept their usual looks, despite the dangerous threat before them. Since his armor was constructed from the same base as Eva-03's, 04's armor was nearly identical, with the exception of the silver armor.

"Well then, what is it you would like to speak with us about?" Michel asked.

"It is your leaders." Eva 04 said. "I have learned much of this Committee those humans seem to turn to so much."

"Well?" Michel asked.

"The headman, Kingsley, ask him of the Beginners, ask him of your fate, ask him about how he would sacrifice all that the Beginners loved for nothing." Eva 04 said. Michel and Ray now noticed that the jaw of the helmet that was supposed to be bolted shut was open, allowing for the Eva to speak.

"Who's Kingsley?" Michel asked.

"He is one running the humans and those helping them into the ground." The Evangelion said. "He is the leader of the Committee."

"One more question?" Michel said politely.

"Go on." Eva 04 replied.

"We are humans, are we not, I mean, Ray and I?" The silver-haired young man questioned. "Why do you speak to us as though we aren't?"

"Why do you think I chose to speak with you?" Eva 04 asked. "Why do you both have red eyes, and hair no other human has?" He asked. Michel pondered the question for a moment. "You are not human, you cannot bleed blood, you cannot feel. You both are AI's, created by man in man's own image." Michel formed a faint grin as he looked to his shoes, nodding slowly to it. It was true, despite feeling the need to have friends, and having this position filled by Sven and Susan many months ago, Michel still couldn't feel complete, something that haunted the back of his mind often. Ray's hands formed into fists.

"You're wrong." She said softly. "I can feel." Michel looked over his shoulder with wide, curious eyes to her.

"Tell me Child, what kind of feelings?" Eva 04 asked, slightly intrigued. Ray paused, her feelings for 'Zukamee was a kind she couldn't explain. "Is it complex?" The Eva asked. Ray nodded. "Is it so difficult to describe, yet…so simple, not even the greatest of poets can explain it?" Again, Ray nodded. "You seemed to have fallen into the feeling of love my Child."

"What is your purpose with us, might I ask?" Michel asked.

"My purpose? I am an AI, as you are, so in the eyes of humanity, we have no purpose. That is what those who built this armor said to me." His red eyes narrowed. "Is that why neither of you can recall your memories of a supposed childhood?" He asked. Both Michel and Ray nodded. "Come then, we must halt Kingsley's plans before it's too…" Suddenly a bright light shined over all three of them. To accompany the blinding light was also the swift _chud-chud-chud_ sound of a helicopter.

_"All of you, you are under arrest, put your hands over your head and do not do anything funny." _A man in the helicopter overhead said over a speakerphone. Eva 04 turned his body toward the chopper.

"I never wanted to hurt those the Beginners loved." He murmured as his hands glowed. "But if they stand in my way I must!" He boomed and threw up his arms. The helicopter was engulfed in a bright yellow fireball as pieces of metal crashed down on the earth once more. He turned to the others. "You will die unless you come with me."

"And if death is my choice?" Michel asked. "Life is meant for those who have the will to live is it not? What if death is our only true freedom?"

"I will not stop you if that is your choice, if you, Child, wish to be with the one you love, if you, Child, wish to die, I cannot and will not stop you." He said, nobly. "Go, make your wish, it shall not be long until they send another group." Ray turned immediately and sprinted back to the place where her team was staying, if Eva 04 was right, and they did want to kill her, she would want to die in his arms one more time. Michel stood, his hands in his pockets, as another helicopter appeared from behind a building, coming in close. "Are you coming?" Eva 04 asked. Michel shook his head. "If this is your chosen path, then farewell." The Eva said and vanished and blink of light. Michel wished to cry at that moment, however he couldn't, instead, his eyes seemed hurt, but his smile was still on his face.

"I regret nothing." He said softly. "My will to live no longer appeals to me. I will miss those I have befriended, they will miss me, but this is my path, my duty, and destiny…" And with his final words, the helicopter opened fire on him, dozens of rounds of armor-piercing bullets shot through him, his back turned to the fire, but he felt nothing, nothing but a sense of gratitude for those who gave him this pleasant life. Of course he wasn't fond of killing, he did enjoy his pleasurable time, with Sven, Susan, Natasha, Shinji, Alexis, and the others, and he would always miss that. Without so much as a grunt, or even a frown on his face, Michel fell over on the ground, the last thoughts he had before he passed on, was an imaginary photo he made in his mind, of all the friends he had made, everyone from the Master Chief to Rykov, standing together, all happy, even the Elites and Grunts in there seemed happy, then his eyes closed.

_Docked Phantom_

'Takimee and his team had landed a Phantom by the base and were resting in it until they would leave in the morning. Ray was running as fast as he legs could carry her, however she didn't huff for air or anything, her face was still straight. As the Phantom came within a hundred feet of her, two men in Committee uniforms jumped out from the darkness and grabbed her, then dragged her away. Upon dragging her back into the darkness, a series of flashes and booms echoed in the streets, and Ray's struggling came to an abrupt halt.

* * *

**Yep...rather depressing no? And just what are Eva-04's plans? How will the Committee bring down our heroes even further? Will Tusk be able to bring his people to tear the Prophets from their mantle, or will the Master Chief and Tusk fail, and be laughed upon by Tartarus? Well, here and now is not the best time to tell you, but perhaps the upcoming final chapter will give you a bit of a glimpse into what may happen to the world of Abate3 and if humanity is doomed ultimately.**


	17. When will it end

**Chapter 15**

_Dr. Winchester's home_

Dr. Winchester had gone to bed; it was about eleven at night now. Abigail had called her mother to see if she could spend the night, of course Victoria said yes, even if she did want to see more of her daughter. Abigail finished the conversation and put the phone back on the hook, then Guilty Spark hovered past her.

"Hmm…might I ask where we shall put you for the night?" He asked. Sven had just folded out his bed and looked up.

"You can have my bed." He said. Abigail shook her head.

"No, no, that's fine Sven; I can just sleep on the floor." She said.

"You're a guest, please; _I_ can sleep on the floor." The young man insisted. Amy forced a yawn and stretched.

"Well, how about you two work this out, I'm going to bed, night." She said and left the kitchen. As she walked by, she motioned Guilty Spark to follow her, as to let the two work out this little discussion. Of course, the Monitor did as he was told and followed her into the backroom, and she closed the door. The two stood silent, staring at each other, wanting to say something, but not wanting to say something stupid at the same time.

"You can have the bed." Sven said finally as he sat down on the floor and laid on his back. Abigail was about to argue further, but instead, took the Spartan's offer and slipped off her shoes. Seeing that the Master Chief was on the other side of the bed, out of her sight, and she was out of his, she began to take off her day clothes; thankfully she was wearing a night skirt underneath that her mother had also given her. She pulled the covers down and slipped into the bed, which she found quite large, and made her feel like a child.

"G-goodnight." She stammered.

"Goodnight." Sven replied. Abigail pulled out one of the pillows she wasn't using and scooted over to the end over the bed. Next she pulled off the top layer of her covers and handed the pillow and cover to the Spartan. Sven felt something soft nudge him, he looked to his left, as he was laying on his side, and saw Abigail, smiling kindly as she handed him the pillow and covers. "Thanks." He said softly. Abigail scooted back to the middle of the large bed.

"You're welcome." She replied and laid down, before her eyelids fell down and she went to sleep effortlessly.

* * *

Abigail awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. She looked around, her vision getting used to the darkness somewhat quickly. The dark-haired girl suddenly spied the electric clock on the small table by the reclining chair, its scarlet colored lines read 2:54 AM. She sat up and stretched, then she nearly jumped. Sven was standing with his back turned to her, staring out the glass door, into the city. 

"Sven…?" She asked.

"Hmm?" The Spartan hummed. He refused to turn and face her, being too occupied with watching the city still be lively.

"C-can't sleep?" The green-eyed woman asked.

"No." Sven replied.

"Something wrong?" Abigail asked. The Master Chief shook his head. "Sure?" She asked. The Spartan nodded. Abigail bit her lower lip, hesitated, then pulled the sheets off of her, setting her feet onto the carpet and standing beside Sven at the window. "See anything?" She asked.

"No." He said as he looked at her, smiling slightly. Abigail smiled back, then slowly and gently, slipped her hand into his, curling her fingers around his and tightening. Sven, having not been touched by another human being in so longer, trembled. The young woman seemed nearly offended by how scared he was of her, but she snickered in the back of her head about how childishly frightened he was outside of his big bad MJOLNIR suit.

"You're so cold." Abigail murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder, again making the Spartan tremble slightly. "If you were in the bed, you'd be warmer I think." She said.

"You can have the bed." Sven replied. His cold eyes refused to make contact still, which made the girl's heart ache for some reason.

"It's big enough for the both of us." Abigail said as her face turned red.

"No thanks…it's yours." The Spartan said.

"Please?" Her face got redder. "I mean…you're going to catch a cold if you don't warm up." The dark-haired girl said. With her other hand she just barely touched Sven's arm, and could feel that he had a cold sweat, which felt like a container of melted ice had been poured all over him. She put the pieces together and figured Sven might have had a nightmare that caused him to be awake. The Master Chief looked at her; she was staring out into the city as well, her soft warm hand in his skinny cold one. He nodded.

"A-alright." He stammered. Slowly Abigail released her hand from his and slipped back into bed, as Sven pulled up his covers and spread them over the bed, including Abigail. He put his pillow on his side, crawled into bed, and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Next he heard a sigh as Abigail wrapped her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Abigail?" He asked. The girl thought quickly for an excuse.

"I…I'm just trying to…w-warm you up. If that's okay?" She replied nervously as her green eyes looked up at him. The Master Chief swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and nodded. Abigail smiled again and returned her head onto his shoulder, nestling up against him, and her arm tightened around him. Hesitantly, Sven wrapped his arm around her, to return the favor for her warming him up.

"Is this okay?" He asked softly. Abigail didn't reply, instead she only nodded her head. Several silent minutes passed by, Sven closed his eyes and felt sleep overtake him. He was, however, awake long enough to feel Abigail nestle her head up against him several times, tighten her arm around him once or twice, and rub her legs up against his. Finally he fell asleep, just moments before the dark-haired girl opened her eyes.

"Sven…?" She asked, ready to confess her feelings. However, she wasn't given a reply, and she knew he was asleep. She felt her heart ache, sighed, and looked up at his pale face. "Goodnight." She said and kissed his ice cold cheek gently, before resting her head on his shoulder again. Her hand trailed down to his chest, where she tightened her hand on the Spartan's t-shirt, and a few tears rolled down her face onto his shirt before falling asleep as well.

* * *

_Morning_

Abigail awoke again, this time bright sunlight was shining on her cheek. With a smile she stretched out, but when her eyes opened, she was surprised to find Sven missing. She sat up.

"Morning sleepyhead." Amy teased as she drank from her glass of orange juice, Guilty Spark was hovering around aimlessly humming a catchy tune.

"Where's Sven?" Abigail asked.

"He left with Grandpa to get his new suit." Amy replied. "Want some toast?"

* * *

With the help of two Committee members, the Master Chief was able to get his new MJOLNIR armor on. Dr. Winchester, Victoria, Fred, and Rykov were present to watch him. 

"Good to see you again." Victoria said to Fred.

"Good to be back." The agent said with a laugh.

"How's Abigail?" The dark-haired scientist asked Winchester. "Did she sleep well?" Winchester nodded.

"Yes, of course, by the time Sven and I were leaving she was still asleep." They all laughed, except Rykov. "Something wrong General?" He asked. Rykov's dark eyes looked to the scientist for a moment, before he crossed his large arms and looked down at the tiled floor.

"It's Michel." Rykov said grimly. Thankfully the Master Chief was behind glass so he could not hear this. "He was gunned down last night." He looked at the others. "He died, along with Ray." Victoria gasped, Winchester stood with his mouth open, and Fred just plain looked shocked.

"For what?" Fred asked.

"The Committee has not told me their reason, but whatever it is, it is unacceptable." He said disgusted. "He was like a son to me, and…and they took him away from me, from us." He sighed. "Natasha Abelev was in tears by the time I told the Russian President and his family."

"And Ray?" Victoria asked, her hand up to her mouth.

"She has been brought into the Committee for tests; however they refuse to release anything." Rykov snarled.

"What's Kingsley up to?" Fred asked. Winchester looked over to the Master Chief, who was staring down on his hands. Altogether, the new suit looked like a mix between his first and second suit, less bulky, the visor was plain again, and as he was told, the shields on the suit were much more powerful. Instead of the original under armor-like material, which was slick, the black strips that allowed the Spartan to move at his joints freely were made of a layered fireproof material, similar to what firefighters wore. Suddenly something beeped in Rykov's pocket; he pulled out a small hologram device and activated it. Grievous stood on it, looking up at the Russian general.

"Grievous, what is it?" Rykov asked.

"The Abaters have returned like you said." Grievous said. "But they have ships my fleet cannot even hope to fight." He paused. "It's five times larger than the last one, some of the ships have already made it down to Earth, and if my assistant is correct, they plan on taking out the shields of every major city left." There was a long moment of silence as everyone seemingly knew that their doom was near.

The Master Chief looked up, seeing everyone's worried faces, and from pure instinct, knew what was going on. He walked to the door, slammed a button that slid the door open. The Spartan walked out silently, Winchester spotted him and hurried after him, Victoria and the others saw him leave and followed him as well.

* * *

_"Abater alert! Abater alert! All civilian and personnel evacuate to one of the safe zones. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!" _Alarms rang out throughout the city. 

"What's going on?" Abigail asked just as she was dressed back into her normal clothes. Amy ran to the window and horror wrapped around her.

"The shields are out, and…and they're coming!" She exclaimed.

"What's with the sense of alarm?" Guilty Spark asked.

"They're coming!" Amy repeated.

"What do we do?" Abigail asked.

"We have to get to the shelter, that's the only place we can go." The girl said and grabbed Abigail's wrist, before dragging her out the door, where several other people were flooding toward the stairs, Guilty Spark hummed calmly as he followed the two girls.

* * *

'Takimee hurried outside to his Phantom from the base, his Elites and Eva-03 were behind him. 

"Wait, where's Ray?" 'Zukamee asked urgently as he looked all around. 'Takimee paused, and turned back to his men.

"I thought she was here." He said.

"She wasn't here this morning sir." 'Jargomee said.

"Where is she?" 'Takimee asked as Marines dashed past him and his men. He hurried over to Johnson when he spotted him. "Sergeant." He said.

"Hey Lips, ready to fight?" Johnson asked with mock seriousness, as well as making fun of his mandibles.

"Do you know where Ray is?" 'Takimee asked. His black-armored men ran up behind him and waited for Johnson's reply, which took a moment.

"Didn't you hear Commander?" He asked.

"Hear what? Where's Ray at?" 'Takimee asked, his voice was raised slightly when asking his second question. 'Zukamee's eyes widened as he felt his heart begin to beat faster. Johnson sighed.

"Hate to be the one to tell you this but…late last night Ray and Michel were killed for supposedly negotiating with Eva-04, who disappeared somehow before he was killed." The Sergeant said. There was a long silence among the spec ops team, 'Zukamee's fists tightened and it was obvious that he was the most hurt, however he refused to let his tears come up. "I'm sorry sir." Johnson said as he loaded a clip into his Assault Rifle and took off sprinting to the nearest Pelican. The spec ops all lowered their heads in silence, when the spec ops commander finally lost his usually casual attitude.

"Damn them, damn them all!" 'Takimee boomed as he stomped about. Finally 'Zukamee's legs gave out and he fell to his knees, head hung low and the Carbine in his hands shaking horribly. 'Takimee continued to curse and growl, Eva-04 wasn't his target anymore, it was the Committee. "Those back-stabbing bastards! After all we've done for them, this is how that fat man repays his own saviors?!" He boomed. "Come on, we're leaving." He growled in anger as he stormed to the Phantom.

The others did as they were told and followed, it took a moment, but 'Zukamee struggled to his feet, Eva-03 stood beside him as he got up.

"You okay?" The Eva asked. 'Zukamee nodded slowly before walking beside Galvin toward the Phantom. He was also the last into the ship, having taken his time. 'Takimee didn't seem to mind however, since he did sense something strong between the two. Of course, the last thing he wanted to do was confront his second in command about it. First his father, now the one he cared about most, the other Elites and Eva didn't speak at all, sensing 'Zukamee's suddenly dullness. His lively spirit and optimistic ways seemed to be zapped out of him, as his head sunk lower than anyone had ever seen it before that day.

* * *

Alexis, Shinji, Hugo, and Bethany suited up and stood side by side atop a building, overlooking the chaos the Abaters were inflicting upon the city. Shinji held an Assault Rifle, Alexis held two SMG's, Hugo held a spear, while Bethany held a Battle Rifle. 

"So where's the oh-so-great Spartan now?" Hugo sneered.

"Shut up Hugo." Alexis snapped as she held up her SMG's in a fighting pose towards the war going on. "Let's go." She said and jumped from the two-story building. With the grace of a cat, the redhead landed in a crouched position, the others followed and readied to fight.

* * *

The Master Chief loaded a clip into a Battle Rifle he snatched earlier as he came to the surface. 

"Chief." Winchester said as he huffed to run after the Spartan. "You cannot fight, we still have to test the suit and…" Victoria, Rykov, and Fred caught up next and the four of them caught sight of a magnificent ship, more massive than the one the Spartan destroyed days earlier. From it a gravity lift opened, and three beings descended on the world, landing on top of a twenty-story skyscraper.

"This city shall burn like all those before it and those after it." The Prophet of Regret snarled.

"And the humans shall be _no_ more in _no_ time." The Prophet of Mercy added.

"Our victory isn't assured yet my brothers; there are still the Evas to dispose of." The High Prophet of Truth said wisely. From the streets, the five beings could see the three High Prophets. The Master Chief turned and walked toward the building, until Dr. Winchester grabbed his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing Sven?" He asked. The Master Chief looked over his shoulder.

"_Sir_, finishing this fight." He said and walked quickly toward the building, leaving the others behind.

"He seems determined." Rykov muttered. "We need that."

* * *

"Yes Chieftain, make sure to keep an eye out for Evas, we wish to see their deaths before us." Truth said over a COM link to Tartarus. 

"Now we sit here and wait, as their precious city is burned." Regret grumbled.

"Watching your own enemy's defeat…how satisfying." Truth added.

"Any word of the traitor?" Mercy asked.

"Not yet, he escaped with the Abater Oracle. Do not worry; he shall be silenced just like his Chancellor was." Truth replied. "Thankfully the others haven't grown wise of our plans." They heard footsteps behind them and turned their thrones quickly around.

"The Spartan!" Regret exclaimed. The Master Chief held his Battle Rifle up and readied to fire into the skulls of each Prophet.

"Hmm…I did not think they kept you Spartan." Truth said, in a calm manner. "I was told all of those like you were transferred to Evas." The Master Chief didn't say anything, the Prophet was stalling he realized. He pulled the trigger on the Prophet of Truth, three bullets shot out. However a green force field protected the Prophet, and it flickered slightly.

"Ha!" Regret laughed. "You did not know we had shields did you Spartan?" His voice was raspy, he was paler than the other two, and it was quite apparent that he was older than them as well. The Master Chief lowered his weapon, cocked his head to the side, and felt around his belt for something.

"Do not be ashamed Spartan, you have fought well, you have been a nuisance to us for some time now, and you were one of the only threats to the Abater army, and in a way I should applaud you for your bravery as well as your heresy." Truth said as his eyes narrowed. "But no longer." He said as the gravity lift reactivated and ten Brutes floated down, armed with Brute Shots, all ready to fire on the Master Chief and kill him.

Ignoring the numerous threats, the Master Chief casually pulled out a blue ball from one of the many pocket on his belt.

"What is that?" Mercy asked. With a press of an orange button on the ball, the device lit up in a blue blow, and the Prophets were baffled.

"A plasma grenade, what is that…!" Regret exclaimed when the Spartan tossed the small blue ball at the Prophets. Penetrating the Prophet of Mercy's shield with no resistance, the plasma grenade's sticky surface attached itself to Mercy's chest. Screaming out, the Prophet was helpless when trying to pull the grenade off of him. The other two Prophets did not seem sympathetic nor did they try to help him as they hovered away to avoid the upcoming explosion. With one more cry, Mercy was engulfed in a cloud of searing blue plasma, his mechanical throne caused an after-explosion and threw pieces of metal all over the place. When the blue fire cleared, the Prophet of Mercy was no more.

"Kill him." Truth ordered his Brutes. The beasts snarled out, tossed their weapons away, and readied to tear the Spartan apart with their bare hands.

"You shall pay for killing one of the High Prophets." Regret sneered. Getting nervous, the Master Chief looked for a possible escape, his Battle Rifle posed and ready to fire when he needed to. Unfortunately he was surrounded, and he knew he couldn't take down ten _severely_ pissed-off Brutes with a single Battle Rifle.

As a Brute charged at the Spartan, it was suddenly thrown back by an unseen force and hurled off of the building, falling to its death. The remaining Brutes looked around.

"Time to leave." Truth said as he and Regret hovered back up to their ship. Another Brute was tossed away wailing, then another. One Brute exploded from the inside-out, another's head exploded. One by one, the Brutes were obliterated, so that it filled the rooftop with puddles of blood.

"Spartan." A low voice echoed. The Master Chief knew that voice, Eva-04! The emerald-armored Spartan looked around, weapon posed, ready to fight. "Look behind you." The Eva replied. The Spartan turned to face the silver-armored Evangelion. "Lower your weapon." He said. Suspicious, the Master Chief hesitated, then slowly lowered it, surprised that Eva-04 didn't attack him right then and there.

"What do you want?" The Chief asked.

"I wish to make my 'life' have a purpose." Eva-04 replied.

"You're purpose is to be destroyed, I don't care if you're another human, after all you've done…" The Master Chief raised his weapon again; however, Eva-04 still did not show any menacing movement. The Chief was quite amazed at how the Evangelion was able to speak by moving his 'mouth'.

"I am not human." He said.

"Huh?" The Chief asked.

"I am what you call an artificial intelligence, created by the Beginners to spread their message." Eva-04 replied. "This is my avatar." He motioned to his silver body. "Without this, I am nothing."

"Why are you telling me this?" The Master Chief asked.

"I'm now on a mission Spartan, to bring down the one trying to ruin all the Beginners worked hard to make, Kingsley. I am told he is keeping the sacred Monitor in his clutches." He said. The Spartan shook his head.

"Guilty Spark? No, he's with us." He replied.

"Excellent, you have done something for me already. Protect him, do not allow for the Prophets or Kingsley to take him." Eva-04 said.

"What's with this Kingsley?" The Master Chief asked.

"You shall come with me, the Spartan of which the Beginners spoke of many years ago. Come." He said and turned, looking over his shoulder. "Unless there's someone here you wish to stay with." The Master Chief paused, there were the others, but he felt that if he truly wanted them to be safe, he would have to finish this. He nodded.

"I'll go." He said.

"Excellent, the prophecies in which the Beginners held dearly shall come true after all." Eva-04 said.

"Where to?" The Chief asked.

"We must go many places, collect many things, and stop anything that gets in our way." The Evangelion said. The Spartan nodded. "Are you ready?" He asked. Again the Master Chief merely nodded. "Here we go." The silver-armored Eva said as he blinked into nothing but a flash of light, followed by the Master Chief, who disappeared just as quickly.

* * *

Hugo impaled an Abater with his spear, then tossed the reptilian menace away, ready to kill something else with the weapon. Alexis did a dodging roll when a group of Jackals fired at her, then she jumped to a knee and opened fire on the bird-like Abaters. After unloading a clip in each SMG, the bullets had somehow missed the Jackals' shields and penetrated their skinny bodies, killing them. 

Bethany fired desperately at a Brute charging at her; however the bullets hardly seemed to slow it down as its hide was pierced by the bullets. Shinji appeared beside her with his Assault Rifle and fired as well, and it wasn't long before the Brute went down hard.

_"All soldiers retreat." _Gendo's voice said over the COM channel.

"What? We're not done fighting." Alexis said as she tore apart an incoming Drone with her SMG's.

_"It doesn't matter, there's too many of them and too few of us, you're leaving now." _Gendo growled. Shinji looked up and saw Pelicans and other dropships take off from the base and flee.

"So is this it? We're leaving 'cause there just a few Abaters running about?" Alexis whined.

"Come on Alex." Shinji said as he waited for Hugo and Bethany to run ahead of him.

"It's Alexis to you." The redhead snapped as she ran past him.

* * *

Dr. Winchester looked out the window of their escape jet onto Tokyo-03, now with flames licking up into the sky and destroying everything within it. Amy was sitting beside him, looking down on Guilty Spark who was resting on her lap, with Shinji sitting beside her. There were ten rows of seats in the jet, with three sets of three seats in each row. It was mostly quiet, many people died during the attack, and they couldn't imagine what else was going on around the world. This couldn't help but ask everyone present, 'where were they to go now?' all the great cities had been overrun presumably, and the Abaters were winning again. 

"Where's the Chief?" Amy asked. Abigail sitting a few rows over with her mother, Walter, and Caleb was sitting in his mother's lap, overheard this whisper, and suddenly felt a stab of fear pierce her heart. Johnson and two of his men were sitting behind her, and the Sergeant couldn't help but notice her sudden swing in mood. He touched her shoulder to catch her attention and said into her ear.

"Don't worry; he's probably with 'Takimee." He sat back into his seat. Abigail sighed, she hoped Johnson was right. She looked around the room, mostly Committee personnel was present, a few Marines were there, their families, and she spotted Fred, sitting nervously beside Kroenen, who crossed his arms and legs as he looked around the plane in fascination. Her eyes caught the band on his arm with the Nazi symbol on it, she would've said something to Victoria, but didn't want to bother her. She continued to feel restless; she _had_ to know if the Master Chief was alright, her heart ached. Even if she had only met him a few days earlier, she felt so different around him, happy. She didn't feel the illness she had, just a sense of comfort and happiness, something she was so new to. Suddenly her hands began to tremble; the fear of losing someone she loved so dearly was overwhelming.

Victoria noticed this, would've said something to comfort her, but couldn't. She was there when the Spartan left to fight the Prophets, and she saw the Brutes lower from the ship to fight him, so she felt that it was unlikely that he would've survived, of course, she thought, if he did, it wouldn't be the first time he surprised them.

* * *

Eva-04 and the Master Chief appeared in the blink of light in an old run-down town. The Spartan looked around, and knew instantly where he was, Fair Oaks! Eva Unit 04 turned to him. 

"Well Spartan…ready?"

**To be Continued…**

* * *

**HA! I just pulled a Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on you! Yes, yes, please refrain from hunting me down (Not lying, I'd do it) because out of ashes of boredom have I created a blog (yes, a blog) on the development of Abate3 and ABATE (The entirely original story based loosely on this series) I got the idea after seeing Ben Leffler's blog on Exmortis 3 production (best point 'n click game ever) so if you wish, you can see what's up there, post a comment there or, hey, why not drop in a review here? Thanks, and I hoped those who enjoyed the series and look forward to more. So, if you want to crave a possible hunger for this series until the A3 release, the link's in my profile. See you, and good night.  
**


End file.
